In hindsight, Tim Steidten presided over far more misses than hits during his two year spell as the technical director at Premier League underachievers West Ham United.
Fifteen first-team players joined West Ham during his stay in East London.
And how many of those could realistically be considered a success? Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the club’s reigning Player of the Year, is probably the closest, though Crysencio Summerville is belatedly making his mark. Steidten remains convinced that Luis Guilherme will come good. For now, though, this feels more in hope than genuine expectation.
Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez had their moments. James Ward-Prowse, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo and particularly Niclas Fullkrug, though, look like nothing more than expensive missteps.
The £27 million West Ham United spent on a striker who has scored just three Premier League goals in a season-and-a-quarter is a particularly damning bit of business. Fullkrug feels destined to be Steidten’s lasting legacy, especially given that the former Bayer Leverkusen director has defended his decision to bring the misfiring German across the channel with a great deal of bullishness.
In truth, Steidten’s reign appears a real missed opportunity. Especially considering the pulling power the Hammers appeared to possess early on, luring Kudus, Alvarez, Fullkrug and Todibo to the London Stadium when they were being linked with more established, top-level clubs.
And considering, also, that West Ham really should have made more use of a Bundesliga market full of exciting, young, untapped talent.
Hammers News’ chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey told TBR Football 10 months ago that Steidten was a keen admirer of Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt. Seven years younger than compatriot Fullkrug, and cheaper too at a reported £21 million, West Ham’s loss is most certainly Eintracht Frankfurt’s gain.
Tim Steidten should have signed Jonathan Burkardt for West Ham United
Now, when it comes to signing strikers, the reputations of West Ham and Frankfurt could hardly be any different.
The former, something of a centre-forward’s cemetery. The latter, though, is where up-and-coming goal-getters go to establish themselves on the European stage.
Take Sebastien Haller, the perfect example. Prolific at Frankfurt, then misused and mis-profiled at West Ham. Given that Haller only scratches the surface when discussing strikers who underperformed in claret and blue, whatever the reason, it is not hard to imagine Burkardt struggling to replicate his quite remarkable current form in a Hammers shirt.
After firing Mainz into Europe last term with 19 goals across all competitions, Burkardt has nine already in just 12 Frankfurt appearances. Drill down a little further into the numbers, and they will tell you that eight of those goals have come in his last seven starts.
Burkardt could emulate Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike at Eintracht Frankfurt
At a club who sold Andre Silva, Luka Jovic, Omar Marmoush, Randal Kolo Muani, Liverpool sensation Hugo Ekitike and the aforementioned Haller for a combined fee of around £330 million, it seems only a matter of time before their power-packed poacher ends up moving in the same direction.
“That was an absolute dream goal,” Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoller said after Burkardt completed his brace with a ‘top-class’ touch and finish during Saturday’s 2-0 victory over St Pauli [WZ]
“Many players rush to shoot in that situation. Jonny has the necessary patience. That was a top individual performance.”
That the Bundesliga’s official website ran a think piece in the aftermath of his latest stellar showing, asking if Burkardt is now Germany’s ‘best striker’, sums up the rapid rise of a striker who has surely left Niclas Fullkrug floundering as far as Julian Nagelsmann’s 2026 World Cup plans are concerned.
“With his intensity, speed and finishing ability, he’s a perfect fit for us,” Frankfurt board member Markus Krosche smiles. “He’s settled in very well and he’s an important part of the team.”
‘Intensity, speed, and finishing ability’. Three attributes Fullkrug has seldom demonstrated in a West Ham shirt.
