West Ham have not ruled out replacing Tim Steidten and he could be back in the Premier League sooner than anyone expected.
West Ham were not expecting to be 16th place and trailing behind the likes of Crystal Palace going into the Premier League run-in this season.
The aim was to get back into Europe, or challenge for it at the very least.
Especially after cementing their place as the Premier League’s sixth biggest spenders in the last three years with a £155m outlay on nine new players.
That is the kind of money Crystal Palace can only dream of spending.
But as is, has, and always will be the case in football – it is not what you spend but how you spend it.
And that is why West Ham ended up sacking technical director Tim Steidten in January and bringing in Kyle Macaulay from Chelsea.
Steidten made a number of ill-judged signings and failed to rebuild the Hammers around young, exciting talent as he promised.
But over at Crystal Palace, Dougie Freedman has been working wonders for years now.
A tale of two directors for West Ham and Palace
Freedman was key to the Eagles signing the likes of Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton, Marc Guehi, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Romain Esse.
Steidten’s tenure and legacy is nowhere near as lengthy or grand.
When West Ham announced Steidten’s departure in January, they made it clear he was responsible for all recruitment last summer.
The Hammers also stated “it is time for Tim to pursue new opportunities”.
Well now he could be about to do just that, right on their doorstep.
And West Ham must act fast for Crystal Palace’s departing recruitment guru after a stunning Steidten twist.
When the Irons brought in Macaulay it was not a straight swap for Steidten by any means.
Macaulay is a talent identifier not a deal-maker whereas Steidten tried to perform both roles alongside his scouts.
For all the criticism levelled at West Ham’s former technical director, he got deals done.
Hammers ‘happy’ but have not ruled out replacing Steidten
Steidten is undoubtedly a skilled negotiator. That is evident from his time at Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen and with the Hammers.
His departure has left majority owner David Sullivan as de facto technical director ahead of a hugely important summer.
It was claimed West Ham have identified potential Steidten replacements ‘in England and overseas’ following Steidten’s exit.
One name being linked was Dan Ashworth – who worked with Potter and Macauley at Brighton.
Telegraph journalist Matt Law revealed Sullivan has been deliberating on whether to appoint a replacement for Steidten.
Responding exclusively to Hammers News about replacing Steidten recently, a spokesman for West Ham’s owners did not rule it out long term.
West Ham must act fast for Freedman after stunning Steidten twist
But the Hammers spokesman said: “We will see how we do with what we have, we are a very happy ship at the moment.”
West Ham’s eye would almost certainly have been caught by news out of Palace that Freedman is leaving.
In a statement announcing his exit, Crystal Palace said Freedman would be taking up a role overseas.
But BBC Sport claim he is only ‘considering’ a job in Saudi and nothing is not set in stone yet.
“There is no confirmation whether Freedman has formally accepted the position,” Sami Mokbel reports.
Freedman would be a major coup for West Ham should they make a move.
But the Hammers will clearly have to act fast and make an offer that appeals to Freedman beyond money.
With Graham Potter and Macaulay actively looking to sign young, emerging talent who better than Freedman to oversee it and get the deals done?
However, Hammers fans should not get their hopes up. Nor Palace fans get too upset.
Could Steidten come back to haunt Hammers?
Because it seems highly unlikely given the links to Saudi and Palace’s statement on his release.
In a major twist, though, the likes of Give Me Sport are reporting that Steidten now looks set for a return to London, as Freedman’s replacement.
There have been conflicting reports regarding the news.
Some claims Eagles boss Oliver Glasner gave the appointment his blessing, others state Steidten’s arrival might even cause his exit.
It has been widely publicised that Steidten fell out with both David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui before both parted company with West Ham.
So West Ham will be very interested spectators if Steidten does rock up at Selhurst Park looking to restore his reputation.
