LONDON, Dec. 28 -- West Ham United have sacked manager Manuel Pellegrini on Saturday after the London club's 2-1 home defeat by Leicester City.

West Ham collected 19 points from 19 Premier League games, ranking 17th in the standings and only one point away from the relegation zone.

The club's joint-chairman David Sullivan said in a statement: "It is with great disappointment that we've had to make this decision. Manuel is a gentleman and it has been a real pleasure to work with someone of his calibre.

"However, it has become clear that that a change is required to get the club back on track in line with our ambitions this season. We felt it was necessary to act now in order to give the new manager as much time as possible to try and achieve that goal."

Pellegrini, 66, joined West Ham in May last year, steering the team to finish 10th in the Premier League in his first season in charge.

Pellegrini began his coaching career in his native Chile and moved to Europe since 2004 to lead teams including powerhouses Real Madrid and Manchester City. He also spent nearly two years in China, coaching Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune from August of 2016 to May of 2018.

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