It is a gauge of Nils Koppen’s impact at FC Copenhagen that the Danish club had long since braced themselves for what they considered his inevitable departure.
On three occasions, teams elsewhere in Europe expressed interest in securing Koppen’s services.
Following his initial appointment as head of scouting and recruitment last October, the 41-year-old merely enhanced his reputation as a talent spotter. As recognition of his work, Copenhagen promoted Koppen to technical director just five months after his arrival.
Despite those suitors, Koppen stuck around, but when the opportunity arose to become West Ham United’s director of player recruitment, he could not turn that down.
The now Championship side, who announced his appointment last week, felt Koppen was the best candidate after a thorough interview process.
Koppen is reunited in east London with Karim Virani, the interim chief executive officer with whom he worked at Scottish side Rangers from January 2024 to the following July. During Koppen’s 18-month spell at Ibrox, he held the positions of director of football recruitment and technical director.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, who spoke to The Athletic on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, say Koppen’s departure is a significant loss to Copenhagen. He was well regarded as a good negotiator, direct with his thoughts and played a key role in the recent arrival of defender Felix Beijmo after his contract with fellow Danes Aarhus expired. Kristjaan Speakman, the new director of football who left his post at Premier League side Sunderland in February, will now lead Copenhagen’s recruitment.
“Nils has taken on a great deal of responsibility at a time when the club needed it, and we are incredibly grateful for that,” Copenhagen’s CEO Jacob Lauesen told their official website. “He has delivered outstanding work. Nils has been in demand the whole time, so we knew we probably had him on borrowed time. We wish him good luck in England.”
Koppen’s role at West Ham does not have the same remit as former technical director Tim Steidten, who left in February 2025. He was solely responsible for the arrivals of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Niclas Fullkrug, Jean-Clair Todibo and others. But the club’s transfer policy will be more collaborative from now on, even with Koppen in the building, as they intend to adopt a holistic approach in the market.
Tim Steidten had a far more hands-on role when it came to West Ham’s recruitment (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Koppen, his visa secured, has several issues to tackle.
The first will be to find replacements for midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who joined London rivals Tottenham Hotspur a week ago for £85million ($113.9m at the current rate), and winger Crysencio Summerville, who is expected to be the next high-profile departure following last season’s relegation to the Championship, amid interest from Manchester United.
In Koppen’s first interview with West Ham’s in-house media, he expressed a desire “to keep the core squad intact”. But an upheaval is expected as further potential exits from the squad include Fullkrug, Todibo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Maxwel Cornet, Edson Alvarez, Alphonse Areola and James Ward-Prowse.
West Ham have no intention of selling club captain Jarrod Bowen, but last season’s Europa League champions Aston Villa retain a strong interest in the England forward.
The priority among the recruitment team is to sign players who are at the required level to play in the Premier League, not just the Championship that West Ham will be part of for at least the coming season. They need to have the right mentality and fit into the culture of the club.
Brighton and Hove Albion winger Amario Cozier-Duberry and Sheffield United midfielder Sydie Peck, both 21, are among West Ham’s transfer targets, while head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is an admirer of Bastien Meupiyou, a 20-year-old French defender at Portuguese top-flight club Alverca.
West Ham have identified Brighton’s Amario Cozier-Duberry, who spent last season out on loan helping Bolton Wanderers (above) win Championship promotion, as a potential target (George Wood/Getty Images)
It will be a challenging summer for the club, but everyone is aligned, with immediate promotion back to the Premier League the goal.
Koppen knows how to navigate a tough period though, given his recent experiences at Copenhagen.
In February, a month before his promotion to technical director, they fired sporting director Sune Smith-Nielsen. A few weeks later, head coach Jacob Neestrup was sacked. The club inevitably went through a transitional phase after those exits, but Koppen showed no signs of unease during this period.
“He was a fresh breath of air, coming in with new eyes, so it’s a big loss for the club,” Daniel Nojsen Fallah, a journalist for Danish media outlet Bold, tells The Athletic. “He’s not the sort of person who is afraid to be unpopular with owners or board members, because he knows what he wants when he identifies players. Everyone at FC Copenhagen says he was a good person to work with.
“In such a short space of time, he already felt confident enough to talk about the problems at the club and what needed to change. The higher-ups really took a liking to that. This is an exciting step for Nils, and he deserves it. He’s the right fit for West Ham. Kristjaan Speakman really wanted to keep Nils, but it’s tough when a big club like West Ham come calling.”
Koppen previously worked in various roles on the recruitment team at Dutch side PSV between July 2018 and January 2024. He was involved in the recruitment of Ismael Saibari, currently impressing at the World Cup for Morocco and about to join Bayern Munich, and Johan Bakayoko, previously a West Ham transfer target. His spell at Rangers and pre-existing relationship with Virani were also contributing factors behind his appointment.
Koppen helped bring Ismael Saibari to PSV (Tobias Kleuver/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
In an interview with Rangers TV in 2024, Koppen offered some insight into how he identifies talent.
“It’s important to look all over the globe, where we can compete financially to get the best talents to the club,” he said. “We also don’t want to lose the focus on Scotland and the local market. I think to look worldwide gives us more opportunity to sign these talents, and everyone realises that the UK market, for us, is getting difficult financially. We need to be more creative, think outside the box and look for profiles that are suitable for our league, even if they’re from Brazil or Morocco.
“It’s a challenge, but it’s not only Brazil and Morocco; we want to look worldwide to where we think we can have success. It’s a big advantage to get that desire into the dressing room and hunger to take the next steps.
“It’s a good thing to have that burning desire, but also we’re looking for winners and players who can raise the standards on and off the pitch. We need to fly all over the world to meet them in person and do a lot of Zoom calls, where the manager is involved.
“In a way, we need to screen their personality, but it’s still the most difficult thing to judge because walking out at Ibrox with that crowd is something that it’s difficult to see and predict how they’re going to react. I think it’s something that we put a lot of attention on.”
He will have to adopt that same approach at the London Stadium as a critical campaign looms.