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West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has been set the target of qualifying for the Europa League next season, per ClaretandHugh.

What’s the word?

The former Manchester City boss guided the Hammers to a 10th-placed finish in 2018-19 and enjoyed an excellent conclusion to the campaign as the club won all of their final three matches, including a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

The club briefly flirted with a seventh-placed finish, which could – if City beat Watford in the FA Cup final – ensure qualification for the Europa League; Wolves will be the beneficiaries if Pep Guardiola’s side win at Wembley.

Pellegrini has now been told that the club need to kick on in 2019-20, though he may not be helped by the club’s transfer budget.

The report claims that the Chilean will be given a basic budget of £30million to spend, though that can be topped up by the sales of players.

Put up or shut up

It’s time for David Gold and David Sullivan to dig deep and back their manager.

West Ham spent £99m last summer and that kind of investment is needed again if the Irons are to challenge the likes of Wolves and Leicester City to become the ‘best of the rest’.

There are very few clubs who will turn down the opportunity to enter the transfer market this summer and a budget of £30m is paltry.

Javier Hernandez, Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll could all leave the club but the only true saleable asset that West Ham have is Marko Arnautovic, who has a £45m release clause in his contract. Unsurprisingly, they want him to stay.

Pellegrini, then, will be asked to perform miracles next season if the right players aren’t brought in. If they fail to qualify for Europe, it will not be down to him; it will be down to the tight-fistedness of the club’s owners.