It goes without saying that West Ham United will hope for greater success out of Nils Koppen than they got from Tim Steidten.
During his year-and-a-half stint as technical director between 2023 and 2025, Steidten was responsible for some of the worst deals in modern Hammers history.
West Ham cannot get Niclas Fullkrug off the wage bill no matter how hard they try. Luis Guilherme was sold at a loss, while relegation surely kills any hopes they had of making back their money with Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The less said about James Ward-Prowse, Kalvin Phillips and Guido Rodriguez, the better.
Nils Koppen helped build PSV’s title-winning squad! What do you want from him at West Ham?
Flash forward to June 2026, and Nils Koppen appears bound for the London Stadium. The Belgian is set to be appointed, not as their technical director as Steindten was, but as West Ham United’s director of player recruitment, per Sky Sports.
An early point to make is that, when it comes to the transfer market, Koppen and Steidten appear to have very different ideas. Chalk and cheese. Expensive oldies and bargain youngsters.
Though ironically, one of Steidten’s few low-cost, high-reward signings – the £500,000 arrival of Mohamadou Kante from Paris FC – is also one that feels distinctly Koppen-esque.
Nils Koppen would have loved West Ham United’s Mohamadou Kante signing
Kante was a rare example of a youth-focused, long-term, bargain acquisition under a director who will forever be associated with big-money blunders and signings with next to no re-sale value.
See Fullkrug, a 33-year-old brought in for £27 million on a contract until 2028.
In stark contrast to Steidten’s wasteful West Ham stint, Koppen was renowned at PSV Eindhoven and Rangers for little-known buys purchased for minimal fees.
He brought Ismael Saibari and Johan Bakayoko to PSV Eindhoven from the academies of Genk and Anderlecht for a combined £200,000. Now, Bakayoko is at RB Leipzig while Moroccan World Cup sensation Saibari is set to join Bayern Munich for £52 million.
Koppen remains a very respected figure among Rangers fans, too. Hamza Igamane and Jefte both arrived at Ibrox from Morocco and Brazil respectively for a combined £2.5 million. After one season in Glasgow, they were sold for a combined fee just shy of £15 million.
So, Mohamadou Kante? An 18-year-old snapped up from then-Ligue 2 Paris FC with only nine senior appearances under his belt? Kante might have arrived on Steidten’s watch, but he is exactly the sort of signing West Ham can expect more of in the Nils Koppen era.
A big season looms for Kante under Nuno Espirito Santo
In time, Kante could prove to be the biggest of Steidten’s successes in the English capital.
Such is the midfielder’s vast potential, there is already interest from Fiorentina and Monaco. Kante is yet to make a single league start for the Hammers, but already he is valued in the region of £20 million [The Athletic].
The fixtures are out! How many points do West Ham NEED in the first 5 games?
Turf Moor is a tough start…
To put it simply, he would not look out of place among Saibari, Bakayoko, Igamane and co in a list of Koppen classics.
“[Kante is] unbelievable,” Carlton Cole, West Ham’s Loans and Pathways Manager, said when speaking on Ironcast podcast last December.
“He’s been a shining beacon in the Under-21 level.”
Kante would force his way into the first-team reckoning soon after. The 20-year-old ended up accumulating eleven Premier League appearances under Nuno Espirito Santo. Even without the inevitable departure of Mateus Fernandes, Kante looked destined to play a massive role in West Ham’s attempts to escape the Championship at the first time of asking. Quite simply, there is no one at the club who possesses his fearsome mix of 6ft 5ins, brute force physicality and a genuine box-to-box, goalscoring capacities.
Kante has been likened to Patrick Vieira, the Arsenal and France legend, on more than one occasion.
And with the appointment of Koppen reportedly close, the Hammers could soon have a couple more Kante-like signings earning similarly rave reviews.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
