West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady has told fans there are plans to replace David Sullivan as the club’s director of football, even if they are relegated from the Premier League.
The Hammers sacked technical director Tim Steidten just 18 months into a five-year contract ahead of last year’s January transfer window.
Steidten had been heavily criticised for how he spent a whopping £155m on 10 players in what was his first and only transfer window in full control of West Ham’s recruitment.
Kyle Macaulay was brought in as a replacement of sorts when Graham Potter was appointed but he was a glorified chief scout.
Brady says de facto director of football Sullivan will be replaced
And the Scot was also shown the door when Potter was sacked.
After Steidten’s exit, majority owner David Sullivan reprised his role as West Ham’s de facto director of football.
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Having Sullivan in that role has drawn criticism from fans who have been calling for modern professionals to be appointed to such positions if the Hammers are going to progress on and off the pitch.
After a vote of no confidence in the ownership and board from West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board back in September, a series of meetings have been held with vice-chair Karren Brady and other club representatives.
That culminated in a West Ham FAB summit meeting with Brady at the end of last month where a series of questions and demands for action were expected to be addressed by the Hammers’ hierarchy.
Now the minutes of that meeting have been published by West Ham United Independent Supporters’ Committee.
And Brady says West Ham have a Sullivan replacement plan regardless of relegation.
The Hammers have employed various people to the role of director of football in the past including Gianluca Nani – under the former owners – Mario Husillos when Manuel Pellegrini arrived and most recently Steidten.
Macaulay and Rob Newman have also been employed in head of recruitment roles.
Hammers will return to director of football model
West Ham initially said they had no plans to replace Steidten.
But there has been a change of heart which has coincided with demands from fans to appoint proper professionals to roles of such significance.
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It also comes after West Ham announced club record £104m losses in their latest accounts which many believe will trigger a fire sale of players this summer, even if the Hammers stay in the Premier League.
A director of football’s role is to not only sign players but ensure the club gets the best deals in any sales, something West Ham have a poor record of down the years besides the £105m Declan Rice deal.
In the meeting with West Ham’s FAB, Brady revealed the club will replace Sullivan to return to the director of football model.
And that remains the plan even if the Hammers drop down into the Championship come what May.
It was also revealed Brady was in charge of negotiating West Ham’s January transfer window dealings.
“The Club shared a recap of what was discussed at the previous FAB meeting and noted that it would today meet the action to provide the FAB with a written governance structure,” the minutes state on WHUISC’s website.
“It explained that it was currently operating without a Director of Football as part of the governance structure but was planning on a return to this model…
“The Club shared the recruitment structure for the men’s first team, noting that this was another department with experienced staff doing great work. The Club agreed that the department was broadly comparable in size to other clubs and that the Director of Football, once recruited, would sit above the recruitment structure. Supporter Representatives asked if the Club would still recruit a Director of Football in the case of relegation and the Club agreed that it would.
“The Club noted that on-pitch matters were beyond the FAB’s remit but that it was happy to take questions on this occasion. PC asked why the Club seemed to sell players at a loss when other clubs buy players at more affordable transfer fees and sell for increased value. The Club explained that it did not want to sell its best players, and its model was not to recruit players with the sole intention of selling to make a profit but to retain talent and buy players in line with what the team and manager need.
“The Club confirmed that the Vice-Chair was responsible for everything except the football side of the club (such as player recruitment), but that the shareholders had asked the Vice-Chair to manage the negotiation of transfers during the window in January 2026 and that she had worked on most of these, including the two new strikers.”
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