“Dumping Ground For Overpaid Mercenaries” Red Top Rips West Ham Recruitment

By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)

West Ham became a “dumping ground for overpaid mercenaries and ageing big-names” under the club’s old recruitment model, according to a fascinating assessment of the changes now taking place at the London Stadium.

It’s a brutal description from The Sun, but their wider examination of how Nils Koppen is attempting to completely overhaul the Hammers’ transfer strategy is a strong one.

Koppen’s recent interviews have already revealed much about the new approach. Potential signings are now subjected to extensive character checks, Nuno Espírito Santo is heavily involved in deciding the type of player required, and every proposed transfer is assessed to determine whether it would block the pathway of an Academy player.

It is a very different approach to what came before.

West Ham’s recruitment was practically Jurassic

The old recruitment system was practically Jurassic.

Not since the days of Ron Noades at Crystal Palace have we seen an owner with quite so much influence on a club’s recruitment strategy as that imposed by David Sullivan.

It’s not that Sullivan never let anybody else buy a player, but the squad inherited by Nuno Espírito Santo was a mishmash of Sullivan and agent picks, some by David Moyes and some by Rob Newman.

Julen Lopetegui, Graham Potter, Carl McAuley and, of course, sacked director of football Tim Steidten all had a little dabble here and there.

It must surely have been so much variety in recruitment that it would have put a chocolate selection box to shame.

Koppen finally has control

Time will tell whether Koppen has fixed the issue, but there is little doubt in my mind that one specialist overseeing club recruitment is absolutely the right way to go.

There are already encouraging signs. Koppen has revealed that West Ham actually walked away from potential summer signings because their character references weren’t good enough, while his explanation of how Nuno identified the precise type of midfielder he wanted before Koppen went out and signed Arne Engels demonstrated how the process should work.

Quite what David Sullivan was thinking when he glanced over his shoulder and looked at clubs such as Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford overtaking West Ham and using a different model, but then refused to copy it, only he will know.

But this change is long overdue.