Technical director Steidten leaves West Ham

Tim Steidten had spells with Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen before joining West Ham

Technical director Tim Steidten has left West Ham after two and a half years at the London Stadium.

The German joined the club from Bayern Leverkusen in the summer of 2023 and was responsible for West Ham's player recruitment strategy.

The Hammers said Steidten had "been instrumental in our recruitment efforts" but it was "time for him to pursue new opportunities".

Steidten was asked to stay away from the training ground by former Hammers boss David Moyes at the end of last season and also fell out with Julen Lopetegui in the final few weeks of his tenure.

In the days before Lopetegui's sacking, pictures were shared on social media of Steidten meeting Graham Potter - though it was not verified when these pictures were taken.

Potter was subsequently appointed manager on 9 January and has since brought in Kyle Macauley as his head of recruitment.

Former Chelsea and Brighton boss Potter has won one and lost three of his five matches in charge in all competitions, with Monday's Premier League defeat at Chelsea leaving the club 15th in the table, 10 points above the drop zone.

'Steidten's departure inevitable'

Steidten's departure was inevitable when new manager Potter confirmed Macaulay had arrived as head of recruitment.

Chairman David Sullivan sided with Steidten in his frosty relationship with former manager Moyes, withdrawing a contract offer to the Scot, who left the 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 Lopetegui as Moyes' replacement raised an eyebrow and while, on paper, a £100m+ 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 were 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.