West Ham United have sacked Manuel Pellegrini after a dismal run of form.The Hammers were flying to start the season - they were fifth after eight games - but they've struggled since.West Ham had lost six of their last seven games going into their game against Leicester at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening.The east London side would have fancied their chances after hearing Brendan Rodgers had made nine changes from the side that lost 4-0 to Liverpool two days prior.Jamie Vardy, Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira, Ben Chilwell and James Maddison were among those that dropped out.

However, West Ham were unable to capitalise and fell to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat.

The decision to sack Pellegrini was made shortly after the result.

An official statement on West Ham's website read: "West Ham United can confirm that Manuel Pellegrini has left the Club with immediate effect.

"Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold, along with the Board and everyone at West Ham United, would like to place on record their thanks to Manuel for his service over the past 18 months."

Sullivan added: “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.”

West Ham are currently 17th in the Premier League, just one point above the relegation zone.

Pellegrini joined the club in May 2008. He won 24 of his 64 games in charge and recorded a win percentage of 37.5%.

West Ham will now turn their attention to hiring Pellegrini's successor, with talkSPORT claiming that David Moyes is the 'hot favourite'.

The Scotsman managed West Ham from November 2017 to May 2018, winning nine of his 31 games in charge. He has been without a job since.

Whether it be Moyes or someone else, the club will be hoping that Pellegrini's replacement can propel them away from the relegation zone and back into the top half.