West Ham United’s interest in hiring a new Director of Football seems extremely unlikely to conclude with Tiago Pinto leaving Europa League-bound AFC Bournemouth for a fresh challenge at the London Stadium.
It was reported earlier this week that Middlesbrough’s head of football Kieran Scott has been identified as someone capable of filling the role left vacant by the departures of Tim Steidten and Kyle Macaulay at West Ham United.
But when it first emerged back in March that the Hammers were looking to bring in a director of football, Bournemouth chief Thiago Pinto appeared as an ambitious early frontrunner.
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Middlesbrough's Kieran Scott has been linked…
According to West Ham insiders Claret and Hugh, Pinto was among those initially ‘considered’ for the role.
Formerly of Roma and Benfica, the 41-year-old Portuguese helped construct the Bournemouth side which this season secured European qualification for the first time in their history. And although talismanic head coach Andoni Iroala is on his way – Marco Rose set to replace him – it appears that Pinto will be sticking around to oversee the transition.
Tiago Pinto not heading to West Ham United as he talks up Bournemouth progress
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Pinto did not discuss those West Ham links.
What he did talk about, though, was how ‘fulfilled’ he feels on the South Coast and how much he is looking forward to a Europa League campaign in 2026/27.
“I feel more fulfilled here. We have a project that doesn’t change based on results, elections like in Portugal, or fan protests. We have a clear idea of what we want to do, a strategy,” Pinto said.
“My goal is that this path is followed every day, regardless of the results. And in these two years, we’ve grown a lot structurally, in terms of supporting the first team.
“If we remain humble and believe that what we’ve done is in the past [Bournemouth can push on again]. When we play in the Europa League, against Juve or Milan, people won’t care what we did last season. We must believe that there are still great things to achieve.”
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Like the aforementioned Kieran Scott, who famously brought Morgan Rogers to Middlesbrough for a fee of just £1 million, Pinto has proven himself to be an expert locator of exciting young talent.
Dean Huijsen, Rayan, Adrien Truffert and Eli Junior Kroupi are just four of the players who joined Bournemouth on his watch.
West Ham’s apparent interest in a director of this ilk highlights a frankly overdue desire to modernise behind the scenes, specifically with regards to recruitment.
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