Julen Lopetegui is clashing with £35m West Ham star behind-the-scenes

West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui has been clashing with one member of his squad behind-the-scenes on a consistent basis, with the under-fire Hammers manager now attempting to rebuild his relationship with the player.

West Ham prepare for Bournemouth after Julen Lopetegui wins ‘El Sackico’

Lopetegui and Gary O’Neil were both involved in a battle of the tacticians when West Ham met Wolves on Monday, as the managerial duo fought to save their jobs in a clash dubbed the ‘El Sackico’.

The Irons reigned supreme with a narrow 2-1 win in east London, but despite the highly-anticipated P45 for either O’Neil or Lopetegui, depending on who lost the encounter, it turns out neither man was shown the exit door.

Wolves are set to give O’Neil more time to turn things around in the Molineux dugout, while West Ham’s board are against the idea of sacking Lopetegui for the time being (ExWHUemployee).

Attention has now turned to the latter side’s trip to face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium next Monday, but pressure is still well and truly on Lopetegui, with a number of supporters still disenfranchised by West Ham’s performances as they call for their manager to depart.

West Ham held talks with Edin Terzic last week, among other managerial alternatives, and it is believed former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter is open to replacing Lopetegui on a short-term basis.

There have also been reports that Lopetegui had a recent bust-up with summer loan signing Jean-Clair Todibo, who West Ham have an obligation to buy for around £35 million, so things have been far from harmonious behind-closed-doors at Rush Green.

The Frenchman apparently came to blows with West Ham’s head coach at half-time of their 5-2 defeat at home to Arsenal (ExWHUemployee), following on from Lopetegui’s clashes with Mohammed Kudus earlier this season.

Julen Lopetegui not seeing “eye-to-eye” with Jean-Clair Todibo at West Ham

According to GiveMeSport, shedding more light on the situation, Lopetegui hasn’t been seeing “eye-to-eye” with Todibo at West Ham this season.

It is a tense relationship which the Hammers boss is apparently attempting to resolve behind-the-scenes, and it is believed the 24-year-old could be set for a recall to the starting eleven against Bournemouth next week, after missing Leicester with injury and being benched for their win over Wolves.

Todibo, for his part, has also been attempting to rectify his relationship with Lopetegui and is believed to be working hard on building a better rapport with the tactician – so both men are eager to work together positively moving forward.

Their reported bust-up during the Arsenal game started from concerns surrounding how Todibo would fit into Lopetegui’s future plans in a tactical sense, but it now appears the former Schalke starlet wants to put that to bed.