West Ham fear Arsenal Steidten move

West Ham United fear their technical director, Tim Steidten, could be in the running to replace Edu at Arsenal.

Edu shocked Arsenal this week by announcing he was quitting his role as sporting director. The Brazilian is on gardening leave and has a six-month notice period, which means he will be free to take up any new job in time for next summer’s transfer window.

Edu is set for a new role as a global head of football in a multiclub structure. It is believed that Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is ready to pay him upwards of £5million a year.

Steidten was appointed West Ham technical director in July last year. The 45-year-old German is in charge of player recruitment and scouting, working closely with sporting director Mark Noble. Steidten had previously fulfilled a similar role at Bayer Leverkusen.

With David Moyes’s departure in the summer, Steidten gained more control. West Ham spent more than £100 million on nine new signings, but have not seen any improvement, with scrutiny growing over a number of players. Some, such as Guido Rodriguez, a free transfer from Real Betis, were signings wanted by new head coach Julen Lopetegui. Others were identified by Steidten. It is understood that if Arsenal or any other club made an offer to hire him, West Ham would still want him to stay.

There have been suggestions that while Steidten agreed with the hiring of Lopetegui, the Spaniard was not his first choice, although bringing in Ruben Amorim from Sporting was always unrealistic.

Lopetegui is under pressure after a disappointing start to the season, but Telegraph Sport understands he will remain in charge whatever the result of tomorrow’s home game against Everton.