Tim Steidten’s hiring as their technical director might end up being West Ham United’s most important acquisition during the summer transfer window.
Steidten will be in charge of West Ham’s player recruitment strategy. He was hired after nearly four years in comparable positions with Bayer Leverkusen of Germany’s Bundesliga. There won’t be much time for Steidten to settle in, as his first task will be to help manager David Moyes find Declan Rice’s replacement using some of the £105 million the club anticipates earning from their captain’s move to Arsenal.
Steidten’s Role: Methods and background of player acquisition
Steidten, 44, has a track record of finding potential; when playing for another German team, Werder Bremen, he assisted in the acquisition of Serge Gnabry and Kevin De Bruyne (on loan). Some of the young players he brought in at Leverkusen include Moussa Diaby and Jeremie Frimpong, and West Ham will be hoping for similar success in east London.
Steidten’s employment, according to their majority shareholder David Sullivan, “is key to our wider plans to drive the football strategy forward,” although it’s unclear exactly where he fits into their organisational structure.
He will collaborate closely with Moyes while also working with Mark Noble, a club legend and former captain who was appointed sporting director in September. It’s unclear exactly where Rob Newman, who has had inconsistent success since being named head of recruiting in the autumn of 2021, fits in.
Without a sure, Steidten has to get started right away given that Moyes already appears to be a little irritated with West Ham’s summer business. “We have started offering players offers. According to Moyes, some have been approved and some haven’t, who spoke last week to West Ham United’s internal media. But trying to bring in the guys you want at this time of the year is where the pressure lies.“
Given that the team lost out on targets like Jesse Lingard, Piotr Zielinski, Amadou Onana, Matheus Nunes, and Hans Vanaken last summer, he has every cause to be worried.
Since taking over Preston North End in the Championship 25 years ago, Moyes has been diligent in his planning for the summer transfer market. But over a year after expressing concern, he will be aware that Rice’s probable departure has put a stop to season-long preparations, which start on August 12 away at Bournemouth.
Departure of Declan Rice: ground-breaking transfer and payment arrangement
The £105 million ($133.2 million) transfer of the 24-year-old England midfielder will establish a record for a British player. The framework of how the money would be paid has been the bottleneck, even though the fee was agreed upon last Wednesday. Arsenal had wanted to amortise the payments over four years, but Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady, who are in charge of the agreement, want the cash sooner.
Although the agreement is anticipated to close soon, Moyes has not benefited greatly from the delay in formalising it.
Since West Ham’s preseason games against non-League Boreham Wood start in just over a week, he has traditionally preferred making signings early in the window. Then, on July 15 and July 18, they will play matches in Perth, Australia, against the local team Perth Glory and then Tottenham Hotspur.
Even though the summer transfer market has only begun, Steidten and Moyes must immediately decide what to do with Rice out of the centre midfield. Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek are West Ham’s senior options at the moment. Conor Coventry and Flynn Downes are also present, although either one of them might quit the club at any time. After eight years with the team, Manuel Lanzini was let go last month at the conclusion of his contract.
While Rice’s replacements have been identified, including Fulham’s Joao Palhinha and former Arsenal player Matteo Guendouzi of French club Marseille, Moyes needs a team that can compete in Europe once more after their Conference League victory secured their spot in the Europa League group stage. He will feel more at ease knowing that the money Rice’s departure has generated will be invested back into the team.
Must Read: West Ham Finally Accepted Arsenal’s £105 Million Bid For Declan Rice
Using the transfer cash of £105 million
Moyes is also eager to make changes to his hiring practises in light of the challenges encountered last summer. In that transfer window, the club spent more than £160 million on Paqueta, Downes, Alphonse Areola, Nayef Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri, and Gianluca Scamacca, a group of acquisitions that had extremely uneven outcomes. This year, that will alter.
West Ham must prevent a repetition of their 2022–23 preseason as they work to finalise the Rice deal and bring in new players. The team put up lacklustre performances against Ipswich Town, Boreham Wood, Reading, Rangers, Luton Town, and Lens, only winning one of the six friendlies they played (drawn the other four), scoring a total of six goals. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that the team lost their first three league games against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, and Brighton & Hove Albion while maintaining a clean sheet.
When it comes to signings this summer, quality must prevail above number.
In the upcoming weeks, it may be investigated to make moves for Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott and winger Harvey Barnes of Leicester City. But Moyes will recall what happened in August of last year and how tedious that window was.
That is why Steidten was hired, and he will have plenty of resources thanks to the £105 million that will be deposited. The burden to prove they have learned from the errors of last summer must be shared by West Ham in order to prevent Rice’s departure from leaving a huge hole in their squad for weeks or even months.
