Steidten departure 'inevitable'

West Ham have confirmed technical director Tim Steidten's departure, which was inevitable when new manager Graham Potter confirmed Kyle Macaulay had arrived as head of recruitment.

Chairman David Sullivan sided with Steidten in his frosty relationship with former manager David Moyes - withdrawing a contract offer to the Scot, who left London Stadium at the end of last season.

The idea was to let Steidten, who made his name in Germany with Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen, oversee a revolution in the way West Ham played, while at the same time maintaining a challenge for European qualification after three successive seasons in Uefa competitions.

But the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as Moyes' replacement raised an eyebrow and while, on paper, a £100m-plus recruitment campaign looked quite good, on the pitch it was shown up to be lacking in speed and quality.

Steidten has been heavily criticised for spending £27m on injury-prone 31-year-old striker Niclas Fullkrug, who has scored two goals in 11 appearances, only five of which have been starts. The Germany international is currently sidelined for an extended period with a hamstring injury.

By the beginning of December, it was a matter of when, not if, Lopetegui was going to be sacked.

Like Moyes, the former Spain boss stopped dealing with Steidten, whose position became untenable once Potter was installed.