Tim Steidten looks certain to leave West Ham by the end of the season but has a deal lined up before he does.
The writing is on the wall for Tim Steidten at West Ham.
It has been since the start of the January transfer window when David Sullivan let it be known he is now controlling transfers again albeit with ‘input from Steidten and the manager’.
Graham Potter inadvertently dropped a huge hint he won’t be working with Steidten much longer in his very first Hammers press conference.
It comes amid fallout from Steidten’s use of £155m on nine players in the summer and the fact he fell out with Julen Lopetegui in the same way he had David Moyes before him.
A top club source recently stated Steidten was ’50 per cent gone’ from West Ham.
Having been demoted from controlling the football operation, that percentage is undoubtedly higher after big developments on two players he signed in the summer.
It was claimed some time ago that Steidten’s decision to sign Niclas Fullkrug and Luis Guilherme had put his job under pressure.
Steidten’s parting gift as West Ham line up summer deal
As exclusively revealed by Hammers News earlier this season, Steidten elected to spread his striker budget to sign Fullkrug and Guilherme.
The signing of ageing forward Fullkrug was questioned by West Ham fans given his lengthy history of serious injuries.
Steidten’s fellow German is now out for another three months having only recently returned from a three-month lay-off.
And one of Sullivan’s first acts back in control of transfers has been to try and offload Guilherme to a Saudi club.
Not all of Steidten’s signings have been bad, though.
And West Ham appear to still trust him enough to line up what could be their first signing of the next window.
It could be Steidten’s parting gift as West Ham line up a summer deal for a top young centre-back.
Hammers in talks over big deal for top young German defender
West Ham’s defending has been abysmal for an entire year.
No team in the Premier League conceded more goals than the Hammers in 2024.
There are only three worse defences this season West Ham have continued their average of conceding two goals per game in Potter’s first couple of matches in charge.
Now it seems the Irons are going to do something about it.
That’s according to a journalist who is very close with the Hammers’ technical director.
Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg has exclusively revealed West Ham’s plans to sign 1. FC Nürnberg centre half Finn Jeltsch.
Plettenberg says West Ham have been closely monitoring Jeltsch’s situation and have been in talks with his club to line up a summer deal.
The reporter states West Ham are ‘fully informed about all figures and plans’.
Other teams from the Premier League and Bundesliga are also interested in the 18-year-old.
But a summer transfer is more likely than any deal now.
🚨⚒️ Excl | West Ham have added Finn #Jeltsch to their shortlist for the summer and are closely monitoring his situation.#WHUFC are fully informed about all figures and plans.
Other teams from the Premier League, and particularly from the Bundesliga, are also interested in the… pic.twitter.com/Kqlg7B7AvR
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 14, 2025
Jeltsch is a Germany Under 19 international but is currently playing in the second tier in Steidten’s homeland.
Nurnberg want in the region of £15m (€17.8m) for the 18-year-old centre-back according to Transfermarkt.
Jeltsch played a major part in the Germany squad that won the U17 World Cup in 2023.
He benefitted massively from working with head coach Miroslav Klose.
Although a former world-class striker and Bayern youth coach, Klose has developed a reputation for ensuring players learn the defensive side of the game.
The reported Hammers target has started all but two games for Nurnberg this season.
And the club has previously admitted they may have to sell him in the summer.
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