EX-HAMMER RICKY SET TO SEAL SWITCH TO THE POTTERS

RICKY Martin is leaving West Ham to become Stoke City’s new technical director. Martin, who has been West Ham’s academy manager since 2019, was technical director at Norwich from 2014 to 2017 and worked closely with Alex Neil during that time, winning promotion to the Premier League in 2015.

He had previously been academy director at Carrow Road for a decade.

It is understood he has been on gardening leave at West Ham ahead of a move to the Potteries but his exit has now been confirmed. He is expected to take up the post at Stoke in the next few weeks.

West Ham’s new interim academy manager Kenny Brown said: “On behalf of everyone at the Academy, I’d like to thank Ricky for all of his hard work and support. “He has been a great help to me personally since I arrived at the club in January and he leaves the academy in an extremely strong and healthy position.”

Martin was a youth player at West Ham and Norwich but turned early to coaching and worked at Cambridge United before joining Norwich in 2001.

He is expected to have a wide-ranging role at Stoke, where Andy Cousins was retitled as head of football operations in January. Cousins, well thought of inside the club, has stayed beyond the exit of Michael O’neill and now could shift to a role more tightly focused on recruitment. The Stoke squad has been overhauled over the last three years on a much reduced budget dictated by Financial Fair Play rules. There should be a more free hand next summer, particularly as there are currently 12 players including six on loan - who will be coming to the end of their contracts in 2023. David Rouse left as goalkeeper coach last week too, with Rich Taylor stepping up from the academy until at least the World Cup break.

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