West Ham are finalising the departure of their technical director, Tim Steidten, after freezing him out of their transfer plans.
Steidten arrived at the club in the summer of 2023 and was soon playing a key role in the transfer market. But the 45-year-old German has been under growing pressure because of a series of questionable signings.
Steidten’s power has been stripped away this month – the board decided this week to restrict his access to internal systems – and the arrival of Kyle Macaulay as West Ham’s new recruitment analyst was seen as another sign of impending change.
Macaulay is a key ally of West Ham’s new manager, Graham Potter, and got to work on Thursday after joining from Chelsea. His appointment is expected to see Potter accelerate his transfer plans this month. Macaulay, who is highly respected within the game, could take over as head of recruitment.
The Guardian reported this month that Steidten was likely to leave following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui as manager. It was seen as indicative that he was pushed to the margins when key negotiations began with Potter. West Ham’s vice-chair, Karren Brady, finalised the deal.
Uneasy relationships with managers have been a feature of Steidten’s time at West Ham. He did not see eye to eye with David Moyes, who barred him from the first-team dressing room last season, and is understood to have been banned from the training ground by Lopetegui. Max Hahn, one of West Ham’s analysts, has taken on more responsibility for signings this month.
West Ham’s misgivings around Steidten, who brought his brother Moritz to the club last year, developed after they saw little return on an investment of over £100m in new signings last summer. Much of their unhappiness stemmed from the decision to spend £25m on the teenage Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme, who has barely featured, and £27.5m on the 31-year-old Germany striker Niclas Füllkrug, who is out for up to 12 weeks with a hamstring injury. Konstantinos Mavrapanos, signed from Stuttgart in 2023, is another Steidten pick who has failed to impress.
West Ham are interested in a loan deal for the Ajax forward Brian Brobbey, while loan for RB Leipzig’s Andre Silva has been discussed. The 22-year-old joined from Leipzig three years ago and has three goals in all competitions this season. West Ham are also tracking Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz and Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi.
after newsletter promotion
West Ham are also considering a move for the Brighton defender Adam Webster. Potter is down to one senior centre-back before Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa, with Jean-Clair Todibo injured and Mavrapanos suspended. In a curious development Juventus are interested in taking on the rest of Todibo’s loan from Nice for the rest of the season but that seems unlikely to go ahead because of the defender’s fitness issues.
Source: theguardian.com
