A West Ham legend believes that Julen Lopetegui can achieve even more than David Moyes has at the club.

What David Moyes has left behind at West Ham is a club reborn. Despite needing a massive rebuild this Summer, the Hammers are now a big name in Europe. They’re three consecutive seasons in European football have put them back on the map with a semi-final, a trophy and a quarter-final.

Their ability to attract top talents with a winning mentality is now infinitely greater than it was when he first arrived. However, now that Moyes is officially no longer the manager of West Ham United, there are conversations to be had surrounding what the expectations are for Lopetegui.

Some believe that avoiding relegation is sufficient due to the nature of the rebuild, while some say that anything other than European football is unacceptable due to it then not being an upgrade on Moyes. Interestingly though, West Ham legend Frank McAvennie believes that the Spaniard has what it takes to please everyone and hire the Hammers straight back into Europe.

“David’s left a legacy that they’ve got to fight for Europe,” he told West Ham Zone. “That’s what was promised when they went to the London Stadium. And David brought that to them. It didn’t matter [how] he got there, he got that for them.”

“When they asked everyone to leave Upton Park, the Boleyn Ground, they didn’t say, ‘We might be playing crap football but we’ll get you into Europe’ – that wasn’t part of the deal. But what they did say was, ‘We’ll get you into Europe’ and that’s what David Moyes did. “

“Now this guy [Lopetegui] is going to come in and he’s got to bring in his own people, but there’s no way he’s not looked at all these football games and he’ll know exactly who he wants now.”

Lopetegui has been pictured at the London Stadium as far back as November, showing he more than likely has been plotting what he will do with these players for a long time. How successful he is likely depends on how well the board back him.

“I hope that the owners can give him that because David’s taken us there and they’ve got to kick on now. Play the kind of football they want to see. I just think we could have played better football. If we’d had a better defence this year, we could have played [much] better football.”

“I think this new manager can take us on a bit further, I think they’ve got so much further they can [go].”

It’s a bold statement but hopefully one that rings true. West Ham fans have been determined to move on to that next level but many felt like Lopetegui wasn’t the man to do that. If he manages to surpass Moyes’ legacy then he will have justified his appointment and then some.