A lot has been said about Tim Steidten‘s time at West Ham.
The former Technical Director came under fire for his role in last summer’s £150m summer transfer window splurge, including the decision to appoint Julen Lopetegui as David Moyes’ replacement.
The arrivals of Guido Rodriguez and Luis Guilherme had many fans scratching their heads, while there were serious question marks over the economics behind the deal to bring Niklas Fullkrug to east London.
Indeed, Steidten will have not been able to foresee the German’s subsequent injury problems in his maiden season, but the decision to pay £27m for a 31-year-old and then put him on a four-year contract understandably had fans questioning Steidten’s decision-making skills.
The 46-year-old did, at one point, have many supporters claiming he was a genius after masterminding the signing of Mohammed Kudus and his famous hijacking of Jean-Clair Todibo from the clutches of Juventus.
But it was Lopetegui’s failure to hit the ground running after such a huge transfer outlay that ultimately led to Steidten paying the price for a number of costly decisions.
Steidten’s biggest West Ham blunder
One of Steidten’s biggest mistakes during his spell at London Stadium involved the arrival of Fullkrug.
It came shortly after a period in which it looked like a deal to sign Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran was nailed on, with Duran doing the crossed Hammers on a live social media video and reports of the two clubs negotiating a fee for the Colombia international.
It all looked signed, sealed and delivered. Until it wasn’t.
Steidten opted against paying the £45m Villa reportedly wanted for the 21-year-old and instead opted for the cheaper alternative in Fullkrug.
Duran would go on to score the winner against West Ham on the opening weekend of the season and setting Villa Park alight with a string of goalscoring performances – he netted 12 goals in 29 games in the first half of the season.
West Ham returned for him in the January transfer window, reportedly offering Villa £57m to finally get the striker in the capital. But the damage had clearly already been done and he eventually joined Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr for around £65m.
This was all while Duran’s alternative, Fullkrug, spent just two months of the 24/25 season fit and available for selection after achilles and hamstring injuries.
It was an embarrassing turn of events for Steidten and West Ham, who realised they had made a mistake and attempted to pay almost £15m more than they were willing to just a few months earlier in order to get their man. By then, though, it was much too late to right the wrongs made last summer.
West Ham given fresh Duran hope
Duran’s move to Saudi Arabia earlier this year seemed to have ended all hope of Duran ever signing for West Ham.
Since his move, the Colombian has scored 12 goals in 18 games for Al-Nassr and is already on his way towards justifying the £65m they paid for his signature.
However, recent reports from Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh claim Duran will be allowed to leave his new club on loan ahead of the new season.
It’s claimed the youngster is having ‘difficulties on a personal level, which have affected his mental state and technical stability.’
Club sources told the outlet that he will be playing for a new club next season, which has certainly opened the door for West Ham to try and get their man after all.
Big statement needed from West Ham
There will undoubtedly be a lot of interest in Duran’s signature if the reports coming out of the middle east are true, but this is the perfect opportunity for West Ham to show their ambition after a pretty sensational twist in this seemingly never-ending saga.
David Sullivan and co. have often been accused of lacking the ambition required to push West Ham forwards, despite spending serious transfer funds over the past few summers.
Those accusations are somewhat justified, though, when you consider the aforementioned circumstances surrounding last summer’s decision to sign Duran.
But here Sullivan has the chance to really show that he has ambition and is willing to do whatever it takes to improve the squad.
Indeed, there is no guarantee Graham Potter would want Duran in his squad. After all, it was Lopetegui and Steidten who were trying to bring him to the club in the first place. But it would be a surprise if Potter wasn’t at least interested in having a player of Duran’s quality at his disposal, especially given the need to sign a striker this summer.
What makes this potential deal an attractive one is the fact Duran is available on loan, which means it would not require a large amount of money to get the deal done. It’s not clear what the economics behind a potential deal might look like at this stage, but loan deals seldom cost clubs anywhere near what permanent transfers do.
Given West Ham’s well documented need to sell before they can buy this summer, due to PSR constraints, loans are likely going to be discussed more often than not amongst the Hammers hierarchy throughout the next few months, purely to keep costs down as much as possible.
So it seems West Ham might just have another chance at signing Jhon Duran – whether they actually try and do it or not is another matter.
It’s fair to say fans won’t be very pleased if we don’t, though.
