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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Sam Tabuteau

West Ham considering Newcastle former head of recruitment for director of football role

Former Newcastle head of recruitment Steve Nickson is under serious consideration to become West Ham director of football.

Standard Sport understands that Nickson is one of a number of names in contention, though a deal has not yet been agreed.

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Nickson is widely revered for his work at Newcastle, having been behind the signings of Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak.

It had been reported earlier this week that Nickson was exploring an opportunity in the Championship, and it is now understood that he is one of the leading candidates to take charge of West Ham’s recruitment following their relegation from the Premier League.

West Ham have not had a sole individual responsible for recruitment since Kyle Macauley left as head of recruitment in October 2025 following the departure of manager Graham Potter.

After dropping into the Championship for the first time in 14 years, West Ham are determined to bounce straight back up.

They look set to make wholesale changes to the way the club is run, with Daniel Kretinsky set to become majority shareholder after David Sullivan stepped down as chairman with immediate effect.

Daniel Kretinsky is set to become West Ham majority shareholder (London Standard)
Daniel Kretinsky is set to become West Ham majority shareholder (London Standard)

In a joint statement by Vanessa Gold and Kretinsky released last weekend, it was confirmed that an agreement had been reached for 1890 Holdings, owned by Kretinsky, to increase their shares to approximately 43 per cent to become West Ham’s largest shareholder.

Sullivan’s 16 year stay at West Ham came to an end at the start of June after an investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times into serious historic allegations.

Sullivan denies the allegations against him and said he was stepping down “to apply my full energy and attention on fighting these false allegations.”

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