West Ham’s director of football, Tim Steidten, is set to win his power battle at the London Stadium, with Julen Lopetegui looking likely to depart.
The past week has seen in-fighting and squabbling within the West Ham camp, with a clique emerging loyal to Steidten.
It is understood that Jean-Clair Todibo and three others have all been outspoken this week in their dislike of Lopetegui’s tactics, making it clear their allegiance lies with Steidten.
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Todibo and Lopetegui reportedly clashed at half time against Arsenal, a confrontation verified by numerous sources. The Frenchman was then instructed to train with West Ham’s under-21 team and is understood to be extremely unhappy with the turn of events.
Some players, such as Max Kilman and Jarrod Bowen, have done their utmost to support Lopetegui, but a less vocal group is quietly questioning his methods.
The club hierarchy seemed unaware of the escalating discontent within the squad until yesterday morning. They now appear to be exploring what precisely has gone wrong with the squad dynamic.
Steidten has reportedly made it clear through his media contacts that Lopetegui was never his choice and is said to have warned David Sullivan against appointing him. It now seems the German director of football will soon have a say in Lopetegui’s replacement and is feeding back reports of unrest to the board.
However, it might be wise for top figures at West Ham to listen carefully to sporting director Mark Noble, who is understood to have a more balanced view of the entire squad’s opinions. That being said, with the board currently split, there could yet be some persuading to do.
Either way, a large number of Hammers players appear to have lost faith in Lopetegui, though to suggest that nobody likes him would be inaccurate.