West Ham broke their transfer record twice under Pellegrini paying £36m for Felipe Anderson in 2018 and £45m for striker Sebastien Haller in 2019. They spent £155m in transfer fees while he was in charge, £71m in the summer before the 2019-20 season. In September they were knocked out from the EFL Cup losing 4-0 to Oxford United of League One. He was sacked by the club on 28 December 2019 after a 2–1 home loss to Leicester City, their fourth straight home defeat, with the club in 17th place and having won only five league games all season.