Barcelona in talks with former Bundesliga and West Ham transfer guru | OneFootball

Barcelona might not be set to make much in the way of additions to their playing squad, but they have made a first move with regard to a potential addition to their recruitment staff. The latest is that they have made a move for former West Ham United Technical Secretary and Bayer Leverkusen Head Scout Tim Steidten.

Currently Barcelona’s recruitment department is headed up by Director of Football Deco and his assistant Bojan Krkic, although his functions are less concerned with scouting and negotiating. The scouting department, which has seen cutbacks in recent years, is headed up by Paulo Araujo. It appears they feel they could benefit from extra expertise though.

Barcelona in talks with Tim Steidten – Fabrizio Romano

Image via Steven Paston / PA Wire

According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona are in talks to bring in Steidten. The 46-year-old German rose to prominence first at Werder Bremen, becoming their Head of Sport, before becoming Head Scout at Leverkusen for three years. In 2022 he left to take over a Head of Sport role at West Ham, and latterly worked as a Technical Secretary.

Romano explains that he has a strong relationship with Deco, after the two worked together to take Edmond Tapsoba from Vitoria Guimaraes to Leverkusen, while the Barcelona man was an agent. Steidten also took part in deals to sign Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Mohammed Kudus. However clubs from Saudi Arabia, Germany and the United Kingdom are also interested in Steidten.

Barcelona recently lost Andrea Mancini

Last summer Barcelona added Roberto Mancini’s son Andrea Mancini to their recruitment team, after roles in Italy with Sampdoria as Sporting Director and Fiorentina as a scout. It was not stated what role he had, and he promptly ended up leaving this year without any announcement from the club, returning to Genoa. Neither is it clear exactly what role would be on offer to Steidten, who likely will have the chance to run things himself elsewhere.