Hello, I hope you are well
I have managed WordPress as well as pure code and as you mentioned, technology constantly changes, but sometimes it is convenient to maintain a solid technology to guarantee the results. Being a commercial site and not an application with extravagant functions, WordPress can be very viable, I can even customize functions or entire website at the code or design level if required and use WordPress only to manage content, I could evaluate it. It is important to mention that my sites reach 95+ performance in Google audits, so they are fast.
Currently I have a server on which I could show the progress, so that will not be a big deal.
For project and time management we can use Slack or Trello.
I am not European, but a European businessman that I have worked with can recommend me.
I know I can guarantee great quality work, but great quality work that you deserves can be done after a good deal, for my part I may not accept a payment until a milestone is completed, but I will not be able to accept no payment until the entire project is finished, as a big project and since I work putting my best effort in what I do and I prefer to demonstrate the commitment with quality, not offering something that you might not want it tomorrow, I think it is better for me and for you to know that I am offering the quality that you are looking for or is good enough for a payment.
A gaming website sounds really fun, hope I can work with you, have a nice day.