West Ham hang Tim Steidten out to dry with brutal statement on exit decision

It’s been widely known for a while but West Ham have now officially announced that Tim Steidten has left the club.

Speculation had been rife over the future of Tim Steidten at West Ham heading into the January window.

The writing has been on the wall for demoted technical director Steidten for some time.

Steidten declared his ‘euphoria’ at having full control of West Ham’s recruitment ahead of a crucial summer rebuild.

David Moyes held power of veto on all deals as per his contract. But with the Scot gone at the end of last season, ex Bayer Leverkusen director Steidten was effectively handed control of the entire football operation by the Hammers.

Steidten was hailed a hero by many West Ham fans for bringing the likes of Mohammed Kudus to the club.

He even had his own terrace chant among Hammers fans.

But Timmy Steidten’s magic has not rung out in the stands and concourses much this season as West Ham’s summer rebuild completely flopped.

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West Ham hang Steidten out to dry with brutal statement

Along with Julen Lopetegui, Steidten brought in nine signings, costing West Ham over £155m.

Some of those acquisitions have proved to be extremely questionable, though, as they took the Premier League’s second oldest squad and made it THE oldest.

Steidten elected to sign ageing, injury-prone striker Niclas Fullkrug and untested teenager Luis Guilherme with the £45m the Hammers had allocated him for a striker.

The German made a fateful decision not to meet Aston Villa’s £45m asking price at the time for Jhon Duran in order to do the deals for compatriot Fullkrug and Guilherme.

The pair have barely kicked a ball in anger for West Ham between them since.

Fullkrug will be out for most of the rest of the season and the Hammers were reportedly desperate to offload Guilherme ahead of deadline day.

Ageing and immobile midfielder Guido Rodriguez was another questionable signing and has looked ill-equipped for the rigours of English football.

Then there is Jean-Clair Todibo. The French defender had to be persuaded by Steidten to join West Ham amid interest from Juventus after a flying visit to Nice.

Todibo has blown hot and cold and has suffered a string of injuries as well as having a furious bust-up with former boss Lopetegui.

The jury is still out on whether Todibo will be worth the £32m West Ham have to pay for him in the summer. Although the hope is Graham Potter can get the best out of him.

There has also been incessant speculation that he wants out of the club.

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Hammers lay blame at Steidten’s door for rebuild disaster

Steidten’s £17m signing of Konstantinos Mavropanos has also been heavily criticised with the error-prone defender still failing to convince.

When Lopetegui was sacked earlier this month, reports claimed Steidten would be next.

And so it proved.

Now West Ham have hung Steidten out to dry with a brutal statement on his exit decision.

Amid the speculation over his future last month, Potter was asked whether he was looking forward to working with the man who had fallen out with both Moyes and Lopetegui before their departures.

In his first press conference, Potter’s response to a blunt Steidten question was very revealing as he did not mention the technical director by name.

West Ham then paid Chelsea £1.2m to reunite Potter with recruitment guru Kyle Macauley.

Potter delivered the knockout blow for Steidten at West Ham when he confirmed Macauley will be the club’s new head of recruitment.

It was confirmed West Ham had revoked Steidten’s access to the club and its computer systems and that he had left the country.

And after the closure of the window, West Ham have now made his departure official.

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Potter didn’t want Steidten in setup, Hammers confirm

In a brief statement, not only did the Hammers throw Steidten under the bus regarding transfers, they also made it clear Potter didn’t want him part of the setup.

The passive aggressive statement made it clear Steidten was responsible for the failed summer rebuild.

And it states that Potter wanted Macauley leading transfers instead, telling Steidten it is time for him to ‘pursue new opportunities’.

“West Ham United Football Club can confirm that Technical Director Tim Steidten will be leaving the Club,” West Ham said in a statement.

“Tim has been instrumental in our recruitment efforts.

“With the arrival of our new Head Coach Graham Potter, who has brought in his own Head of Recruitment, it is time for Tim to pursue new opportunities.

“We would like to thank Tim for his dedication and hard work and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Not shy of an interview or two, it will now be interesting to see whether Steidten tells his side of the story in the coming weeks and months.

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