Tim Steidten has admitted buying Niclas Fullkrug for West Ham United was a mistakeby. West Ham United parted ways with Tim Steidten as their technical director yesterday after 18 months of working together, and the German has admitted that buying Niclas Fullkrug was a mistake, according to The Athletic.
The Hammers spent £27 million to bring the 31-year-old to the London Stadium club from Borussia Dortmund last summer, handing him a £90,000-per-week deal, but he has hardly been fit.
Steidten was concerned about the injury record of the West Ham striker and was aware of the risk he was taking signing him for the Irons.
However, while he felt the Hammers had no other options given their need for a striker at the time, sources close to him say he admitted that he was too naive in making things happen.
Fullkrug picked up an Achilles tendon injury just a month and four games after joining West Ham, getting sidelined for three months.
He returned to action in December, weighing in with two goals and an assist in seven appearances since then, but he is currently out injured after suffering a hamstring injury in the FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa on January 10.
West Ham were forced to go into the transfer market in January, eventually landing Evan Ferguson on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion after a £57m offer for Jhon Duran was knocked back by Villa.
The Hammers had seen the Midlands club reject their £30m-plus offer for the Colombian striker last July, and a fresh attempt to land him last month fell through.
They also recalled midfielder James Ward-Prowse from his season-long loan at Nottingham Forest and manager Graham Potter will hope the two additions will go a long way in helping West Ham secure a European berth at the end of the current campaign.
Steidten failed to get the job done with his recruitment and the onus is now on West Ham’s new head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay to fix the problems going forward.
