Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten worked in tandem to make the West Ham United squad much stronger in the summer transfer window.
New West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui and director of football Tim Steidten brought nine new players to the London Stadium in the summer.
Some of the signings we made were hugely exciting, and many Hammers fans expected us to achieve some real success this season.
However, the start to the 2024/25 campaign has been a really slow one overall.
Before the Ipswich game, there was even talk of Lopetegui getting the sack if results didn’t improve quickly, but he has apparently assured the board that he will turn things around.
And then the win over Ipswich really eased the pressure on his shoulders. However, there are still some dissenting voices regarding certain decisions that Lopetegui and Steidten made back in the summer.
Both Lopetegui and Steidten have received huge criticism from some Hammers fans for the signing of Luis Guilherme, and their subsequent failure to bring Jhon Duran to the London Stadium.
Whilst those criticisms are well-founded, we have to praise them for the good work they’ve done as well.
And one particular double deal that the Spaniard and the German completed in the summer is worthy of huge applause.
Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten deserve praise for West Ham double deal
Max Kilman joined the Hammers from Wolves in the summer for around £40 million.
At the time, the general consensus amongst the fanbase was that we’d overpaid for the 27-year-old centre-back.
However, the £40 million fee we paid now looks like a bargain if you ask me. Kilman has been our best and most consistent player so far this season.
Jean-Clair Todibo raved about the former Wolves man recently, and he has displayed his undoubted class in spades.
I expect him to get even better as well.
The second best signing we made was Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Some fans may even argue that he was our best summer signing, and I think that would be entirely fair.
£15 million for a player with the 26-year-old’s ability was an absolute steal. His pace and power down the right-hand flank has given us a completely different dimension to what we had when Vladimir Coufal was playing.
The additions of Kilman and Wan-Bissaka will prove to be exceptional pieces of business for us over time, I have no doubts about that.
We have to take the rough with the smooth. Whilst Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten definitely made a mistake by not bringing Duran to West Ham, they more than made up for it with some of the other signings they made.
There will be plenty of other Premier League clubs looking over the fence at the London Stadium wishing they had signed Kilman and Wan-Bissaka, I can assure you of that.
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