Julen Lopetegui has opened up about his talks to take over at Milan, admitting that he is still unclear as to why the discussions ended so ‘abruptly’, and has given his prediction ahead of the upcoming Champions League play-off second leg between the Rossoneri and Feyenoord.
Lopetegui, who was most recently in charge of West Ham United, had been in talks to replace Stefano Pioli at Milan at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Though an agreement had been close, Milan eventually decided to turn to Paulo Fonseca instead. The Portuguese was appointed on May 24, one day after Lopetegui was announced as the new head coach of West Ham.
Both had lost their jobs by January 2025. Fonseca was the first to go, handed his marching orders on December 29, while Lopetegui left West Ham on January 8.
Discussing his talks with Milan prior to his West Ham appointment, Lopetegui said: “Milan shows up and I’m very happy. It’s an historic and attractive team, and I’ve always liked the Italian league – I’ve always followed it, and was attracted by the way they understand football as a collective game.
“Arrigo (Sacchi) strongly encouraged my footballing curiosity. He inspired me. I studied him and I was lucky enough to get to know him.
“The negotiation progressed well, then stopped abruptly. It’s not up to me to reveal or comment on the reasons why they stopped.”
This was not the first time that Lopetegui had been approached with an opportunity in Serie A, though.
“It had also happened in the past, at times when I had other ideas. But the discussion with Serie A is not closed off. Sooner or later I would like to come and honestly, I think I would be able to measure myself in what I consider to be a stimulating league from a tactical point of view.”
Lopetegui believes that Milan still have what it takes to overturn Feyenoord in their Champions League meeting on Tuesday night.
“Feyenoord changed coach and saw Gimenez move to Milan, two serious blows, but clearly the structure was solid. We saw that in the first leg. But, it’s clear that Milan have the necessary qualities to fight back.”
