It’s time for the Tim Steidten character assassination to end at West Ham because the former technical director has left the club with a diamond who’ll be worth £50m of pure profit.
West Ham’s owners have been front and centre in terms of blame for the plight the club finds itself in this season.
But not far behind is Tim Steidten.
The German was sacked ahead of the last January transfer window, just 18 months into what he went on record to say was a five-year project at West Ham.
In reality Steidten had only really properly been in his role for one window, which would be his first and last in full control of recruitment.
Steidten actually made 10 signings in his only window in full control of West Ham’s transfers.
Fans have accused Steidten of setting West Ham back years
The Hammers splurged £155m on Steidten’s signings only to progressively get worse as the club burned through three managers in 16 months.
Now it is up to Nuno Espirito Santo to turn things around using what’s been left behind by Steidten’s spell in east London.
Many West Ham fans feel Steidten should be ‘tried for crimes against football’ for some of his decisions while technical director at the London Stadium.
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Whether that was signing off £40m for Max Kilman, spending £47m on Luis Guilherme and Niclas Fullkrug, bringing in ageing players ill-equipped for the Premier League like the German striker and Guido Rodriguez or failing to make good on the promise to rebuild the Hammers around young, exciting talent.
Jean-Clair Todibo at £32m has looked poor business too – although the French defender and Kilman had their best games for West Ham in the 3-1 win over Newcastle.
Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman put in their best performances to date for West Ham against Newcastle
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Hammers supporters are so angry about how things unfolded with the former Leverkusen director that they believe he may have set them back years.
There is absolutely no denying Steidten squandered too much money on the wrong profile of player for what West Ham needed.
It is also true that the Hammers have been paying the price since and find themselves in a relegation battle as a result.
You live and die by your decisions in the transfer market in modern football.
But the Steidten character assassination needs to stop because he left West Ham a parting gift worth £50m.
At the end of the transfer window last summer, West Ham announced the signing of Mohamadou Kante from Ligue 2 club Paris FC for just £500k.
Steidten character assassination at West Ham ends now
Talented, rangy box-to-box midfielder Mohamadou Kante had all the ingredients on paper to be the perfect Premier League midfielder.
Steidten snared Kante for West Ham on a five-year deal, sending him back to Paris FC on loan for the 2024/25 season.
He played his part in helping the Red Bull-owned club get promoted to Ligue 1, but after signing for West Ham, Kante was sidelined due to bureaucracy.
Kante is very highly rated over in France and it has not taken long for everyone at West Ham to see why.
The powerhouse midfielder has been so unbelievably good for West Ham’s Under 21s he has also been handed an extended and improved contract, which he signed last week.
Milton Keynes Dons v West Ham United U21 - Vertu Trophy
Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images
Steidten left West Ham a parting gift worth £50m
Nuno confirmed Kante is one of several Academy stars who have now officially been elevated to the first team squad.
Steidten may have left under a cloud but he also left a parting gift who’s rapidly proving to be a £50m player in the making.
West Ham fans have been so impressed by Kante’s utterly dominant displays for the Under 21s they have been calling for him to be in the first team.
At times Kante looks like a grown man playing against little boys as he strides up and down the pitch.
He has a bit of everything to his game but, crucially, an eye for goal too.
Kante showed that yet again last night scoring an absolute scorcher for West Ham Under 21s in their 3-0 win over Liverpool.
He collected the ball in midfield, surged past a Liverpool defender and smashed the ball into the top corner with his supposed “weaker” left foot from outside the box.
Early days but West Ham could have new Yaya Toure in Kante
Every now and then a player comes along and it is so obvious they have what it takes to be a Premier League star.
That was the case when Declan Rice started getting a taste of first-team action.
Kante has that same aura around him and more than a shade of a young Yaya Toure.
And if we are going to queue up to criticise Steidten for his mistakes – of which there were many – then we must also give credit where it is due over his shrewd and bargain signing of Kante.
Given the prices paid for top, powerful central midfielders nowadays, there is no ceiling on what Kante’s future worth might be.
If he can continue to score goals when he does get a chance at senior level then that will only add to his value.
West Ham have just paid £40m for Mateus Fernandes and £30m for James Ward-Prowse in the not-too-distant past.
With his attributes of pace, power, strength, skill, presence, tackling and goal-scoring, if Kante continues on this trajectory £50m will be the minimum he is worth. And that will be almost pure profit given the paltry initial outlay.
Forget Frankenstein’s Monster, West Ham have resembled Steidten’s Monster in the last 18 months as an incoherent mix that is less than the sum of its parts and struggling for an identity.
But now the Hammers have a real monster in their midst in Kante and they have Steidten to thank for that.