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West Ham face pressure to keep Tim Steidten as director amid Liverpool interest

West Ham face pressure to keep Tim Steidten as director amid Liverpool interest

West Ham United are struggling to convince technical director Tim Steidten to remain at the club with Liverpool lurking in the background, The Guardian reports.

West Ham recruited Steidten from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, and the German made an instant impact, luring a couple of exciting acquisitions to East London.

The Hammers recouped a staggering £105 million from the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, and the proceeds were reinvested into the squad, with Steidten overseeing recruitment.

The 44-year-old earned plenty of praise for landing the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez from Ajax. Set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse and Konstantinos Mavropanos also joined, further bolstering the squad.

However, despite his good work, Steidten is understood to be unsettled in East London, particularly because of his fragile relationship with under-fire manager David Moyes.

Steidten isn’t a fan of Moyes’ brand of football and is in favour of a managerial change. But the club continue to back the Scot, who ended their 43-year wait for a title after winning the Europa Conference League.

West Ham’s recruitment strategy is also at the heart of the rift between Steidten and Moyes, and tensions between the pair hit a fever pitch last summer.

Moyes prefers to have the final say on recruitment and pushed for West Ham to sign Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City, while Steidten wanted to land Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman, but the deal collapsed.

Phillips has since endured a nightmare start to life at West Ham. His first three performances weren’t inspiring, and he picked up a red card in the Hammers’ most recent defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Steidten is reportedly frustrated at West Ham and could leave the club this summer, but that could change if Moyes is dismissed with the manager under immense pressure.

West Ham have failed to win any of their last eight games (D4, L4) and have lost three consecutive Premier League games.

Liverpool are on the hunt for a sporting director, with Jorg Schmadtke set to step down from his role at the end of the season.

Steidten is one of several candidates under consideration, and if West Ham don’t appease him soon enough, he could be tempted by a switch to Anfield next summer.

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