Hindsight is a wonderful thing but West Ham look to have dropped a clanger giving up on one star way too soon.
There is a reason technical director Tim Steidten has been coveted by the likes Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Newcastle before and since joining West Ham.
The German arrived last summer amid much excitement.
West Ham finally had someone with proven pedigree conducting transfers and recruitment.
Steidten’s work at Bayer Leverkusen – where he was also influential in appointing Xabi Alonso – providing evidence of that in spades.
His work at the London Stadium has been excellent so far with some extremely impressive captures to his name.
From Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez last summer to Jean-Clair Todibo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Gudio Rodriguez this.
That doesn’t mean Steidten will get every single decision right, though.
West Ham’s Steidten brilliant but everyone makes mistakes
There are question marks over the signing of Luis Guilherme.
The Hammers paid £20m for the Brazilian teenager as West Ham’s first summer signing. When he was unveiled Steidten said Guilherme was ‘a player for now and the future’.
But Guilherme is not even making West Ham’s matchday squads as yet.
The jury will be out on the decision to make Niclas Fullkrug the club’s striker signing too.
Steidten said Fullkrug is just what West Ham need and is ready to hit the ground running.
Fans wanted to see the club sign a more dynamic, younger striker.
And, at 31, concerns have been raised about Fullkrug’s age, lack of pace and injury history.
While Jhon Duran, the striker supporters did want to see the club sign, rips it up with Villa, Julen Lopetegui has had Fullkrug on the bench for the first three games.
The Hammers’ biggest transfer mistake on Steidten’s watch has gone somewhat under the radar, though.
Because West Ham gave up way too soon on a star sold in summer as he shines in the Champions League.
West Ham gave up way too soon on Thilo Kehrer
Much has been made of West Ham’s centre-back options of late.
Lopetegui made it clear he wants two senior players for every position.
At centre-back, though, the Spaniard has only Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo.
Lopetegui made it clear he wanted a fourth centre-back and the club even considered signing one on a free transfer.
It comes after Angelo Ogbonna, Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma left in the summer.
Hammers scratching around for fourth centre-back
They followed another player who can fill in at centre-back out of the West Ham exit in Ben Johnson.
But another departure that was made permanent on July 1st was that of Thilo Kehrer.
When West Ham were looking to move fringe players on in January, Kehrer left on loan for Monaco.
At the time it was no great surprise given he had become fourth-choice centre-back under Moyes.
Kehrer had established himself as an important utility player for West Ham on their way to Europa Conference League glory last year.
But Kehrer played just 19 minutes of Premier League football for West Ham last season before leaving for France.
In fact he was completely marginalised by Moyes, making just four starts in all competitions.
Kehrer shines in Champions League with Monaco
His loan to Monaco essentially had an obligation to buy clause as it contained easily achievable triggers.
With the benefit of hindsight, though, the £10.5m deal now looks a mistake.
West Ham find themselves scratching around for a centre-back from the free agents reject pile.
Everytime the Hammers have signed a player this summer, Steidten has made a point of highlighting the fact he wants to bring versatile players to the club, saying ‘it is important in modern football’.
Well they don’t come much more versatile than Kehrer. He could play centre-back, right-back, left-back and even as a wing-back on both sides.
He could even do a job as a defensive midfielder too.
Yes he failed to really establish himself and made some poor mistakes in certain games.
But he’s still only 27 and it feels like the Hammers should have held fire on any decision on a permanent exit until a new manager came in.
Kehrer has shone for Monaco, where he is a mainstay of the team at centre-back.
He was a big reason Monaco surged up the Ligue 1 table and finished second in the second half of last season.
That saw the French club, who sit third so far this term, qualify for the Champions League.
Kehrer helped shackle the likes of Robert Lewandowski last night as Monaco beat Barcelona 2-1 in Europe’s top competition.
It’s food for thought for the Hammers and one sale they may have got wrong.
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