Graham Potter and Tim Steidten may well be working closely together at West Ham United after all.
Tim Steidten arrived at West Ham in July 2023 after being named as the club’s new director of football.
Graham Potter moved to the London Stadium 18 months later, and he has a huge task on his hands if he is to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor, Julen Lopetegui.
When Lopetegui was sacked two weeks ago, it was claimed that Steidten could follow him out the door after a really questionable summer transfer window.
However, the director of football has avoided David Sullivan’s wrath, for now at least.
The challenge for both Steidten and Potter will be to work closely together, whilst pulling in the same direction in order to help the club achieve our goals.
It was something that Lopetegui was unable to do, nor David Moyes before him.
Potter’s remit at the London Stadium is clear, but will Steidten be kept around to help the Hammers head coach achieve his targets?
Twist as Graham Potter makes Tim Steidten U-turn at West Ham
The German’s future is looking incredibly uncertain at West Ham right now.
However, some good has just now emerged for Steidten it seems.
According to The Athletic, there has been a big shift at the London Stadium since the arrival of Potter.
And Steidten is seemingly someone who has really benefitted from that.
Rishane Thomas wrote:
“He was asked to stay away from the training ground under previous manager Julen Lopetegui, but has returned to Rush Green following Potter’s appointment.“
The 45-year-old German was banned from attending the Hammers’ training base by David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui.
It was thought that he was having too much of an influence on the day-to-day running of the football club.
So allowing him back to Rush Green is a big vote of confidence by Potter.
Steidten has failed but will he get a chance to atone for his errors?
The former Bayer Leverkusen man has badly underperformed in his role as director of football at the London Stadium in my opinion.
During his time in Germany, he was known as the ‘pearl’ diver’, due to his uncanny knack of discovering unpolished gems.
However, he’s yet to bring in a talented youngster at West Ham, aside from Luis Guilherme, but West Ham are said to be trying to sell the Brazilian already.
The only player signed by the German who has impressed me at all is Mohammed Kudus, and we all knew he was a star in the making when he signed anyway.
The 45-year-old has missed out on strengthening key areas of the Hammers squad, failing to add a young, pacy striker and a powerful central midfield ball-carrier to our ranks.
The imminent arrival of Kyle Macaulay from Chelsea will certainly see Steidten’s influence at the club shrink from here on out.
That said, Graham Potter allowing Tim Steidten to return to Rush Green is definitely good news for the German, and he might just get another chance to prove himself at the London Stadium.
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