Tim Steidten exit confirmation ‘on the way’ at West Ham amid Potter development. West Ham United could confirm Tim Steidten’s exit in a matter of time after sidelining him at the London Stadium.
It was not long ago that David Sullivan trusted Steidten to provide now-sacked manager Julen Lopetegui with the tools he needed to take the Irons to greater heights, allowing the transfer guru to spend over £100million on new signings in the summer. Fast forward to January, the German has been shunned to the fringes of the proceedings at the London Stadium, with Sullivan taking things into his own hands to a great extent.
In a further blow to Steidten, the East London outfit have agreed a compensation deal to rope in Graham Potter’s trusted ally Kyle Macaulay, according to The Telegraph, with a confirmation expected as early as this week.
That means a press release confirming Steidten’s departure may be on the way at West Ham. For what it’s worth, West Ham are bringing in Macaulay as a recruitment analyst [The Athletic], while Steidten’s official job title is technical director. However, it is hard to see the former Bayer Levkerusen having a future at the London Stadium.
In case you missed it, Sullivan took greater control of the Hammers recruitment at the start of January after Lopetegui told him to stay away from Rush Green. If that was not enough, Karren Brady also led the club’s negotiations with Potter before hiring him earlier this month, confirming Steidten’s waning influence [The Guardian].
Macaulay’s arrival is only going to take more responsibilities and power away from the former Wolfsburg director.
The 38-year-old is notably close to Potter, having worked with him at each of his four previous clubs – Ostersunds, Swansea City, Brighton and Chelsea.
Potter is known to ask Macaulay to prepare reports on his targets and take opinions from him before making a final decision.
With Sullivan and Brady more than willing to lead negotiations, it is hard to see where Steidten fits in this new setup.
Therefore, it is easy to come to the conclusion that his time at the London Stadium is coming to an end.
In other West Ham news, the Irons want to sign an attacker who has already seen a transfer collapse this month.