Top Hammers executive is not welcome around team

WEST HAM technical director Tim Steidten has been told he is not welcome in the first-team dressing room amid uncertainty over David Moyes’s future.

Mail Sport has learned that following talks it has been decided Steidten will not enter the dressing room at the London Stadium or the club’s Rush Green training ground until the end of the season.

Moyes’s contract expires at the end of the season and as Steidten is seeking a replacement for the Scot, it has been deemed inappropriate for him to be around senior players and coaching staff.

The German has a base at the London Stadium and training HQ, but his access is now restricted.

His arrival last year diminished some of Moyes’s powerbase at the club, particularly with regards to recruitment, and there have been reports of tension. West Ham sources insist Steidten (below) spends regular stretches away from London as he attends meetings with figures across the world of football, in particular at this time of the season, with a view to recruitment work.

Mail Sport also understands Steidten has spent considerable time on the road recently as he puts together a contingency plan in the event that Moyes doesn’t stay.

Insiders have suggested Steidten is only in situ in one of his two offices for two days a week .

Moyes will hold talks with owner David Sullivan at the end of the season, when his future will be decided. But it is increasingly likely that he will leave the Hammers. Former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui has significant support inside West Ham. Lille manager Daniel Fonseca and Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna are also on the radar, along with Wolves boss Gary O’Neil, who used to play for the east London club. Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, who is open to joining a Premier League side, has held talks, but the possibility of his appointment has been played down. Steidten, whose brother Moritz is head of international relations and scouting for the Hammers, has built a reputation as one of Europe’s best technical directors and his arrival at West Ham last summer was viewed as a coup. The 45- year- old previously worked at Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen.

Mail Sport revealed this week that Moyes has been the subject of a shock enquiry from Spartak Moscow. The Russian side sacked Guille Abascal a fortnight ago. Representatives have reached out to Moyes’s camp to assess if he would be open to joining them, but he is reluctant to commit when he is still focused on the rest of the season.