A £150m West Ham investment deal could be on the horizon claims a new report on plans of co-owner Daniel Kretinsky.
Speculation has been rife in recent months about a potential takeover at West Ham.
Czech billionaire Kretinsky became West Ham’s second biggest stakeholder behind David Sullivan when he purchased 27 per cent of the club in November 2021.
Kretinsky has repeatedly been linked with an eventual full takeover of West Ham (The Evening Standard).
And there has been speculation for years that Sullivan and the family of David Gold would sell their stakes in the Hammers in 2023 – after the expiration of an embarrassment clause in the club’s anchor tenancy deal with the LLDC.
But football finance expert Kieran Maguire – the author of The Price of Football books and co-presenter of the hugely popular The Price of Football podcasts – recently poured cold water on claims Kretinsky could complete a full takeover in an interview with Hammers News.
Maguire is well connected in the football world and provided a telling update on the situation.
“There’s no enthusiasm from his (Kretinsky) camp for a full takeover from what I hear,” Maguire told Hammers News.
“West Ham also have David Sullivan wanting to keep it in the family, especially having had his loans repaid.”
Well it seems Maguire was right – full takeover by Kretinsky is not looking likely. But he is making moves behind the scenes to increase his stakeholding in West Ham.
A £150m West Ham investment deal is on the horizon claims a new report on Kretinsky’s plans.
And it would change the whole landscape of the club in terms of the ownership situation.
According to Football Insider, Kretinsky wants to buy the Gold family’s 25.1 per cent stake in West Ham in a £150m move.
Should that happen it would make Kretinsky the majority stakeholder with a 52.1 per cent stake to Sullivan’s 38.8 per cent.
“Daniel Kretinsky is keen to increase his stake in West Ham with a new £150million investment, sources have told Football Insider…” the report claims.
“It is understood that Kretinsky is interested in acquiring the shares of former West Ham joint-chairman David Gold, who passed away in January…
“Kretinsky could acquire the shares as soon as this season, with a view of taking majority control for the start of the next campaign.”
It was recently claimed that Kretinsky had held secret talks to take ownership of the London Stadium from the LLDC.
But a top source in the West Ham boardroom told Hammers News, Kretinsky was not even at the West Ham game when the supposed meeting took place.
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