A key ally of West Ham United majority owner David Sullivan has made an eye-watering £160 million claim that will send shockwaves through the fanbase.
With a potentially huge and exciting deal on the horizon, it can’t be completed soon enough for the Hammers.
These are interesting times at West Ham, on and off the pitch.
Green shoots have appeared on and off the pitch in the last week.
On it, Graham Potter’s reign finally had lift-off in West Ham’s impressive 2-0 win at Manchester United.
Although it was tempered by the fact the opposition looked completely disinterested with the Europa League final just over a week away, Potter’s side played some good football on the way to a deserved and rare Old Trafford league win.
It comes ahead of a huge summer for West Ham United.
Four long-serving but ageing stars have already been released, two loan players will be let go and a host of others are available for sale as West Ham look to raise funds for a rebuild and ease PSR pressure.
Green shoots for West Ham on and off the pitch
The Hammers have been insisting they are at their PSR limit since January.
So, like many of their Premier League rivals, they must cut their cloth accordingly in an extended summer window, which opens in just over two weeks.
Majority owner David Sullivan is back in the driving seat on transfer dealings.
Although it is head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay and Potter who will be identifying targets – which has started in earnest.
Sullivan reprising his de facto director of football role has caused controversy among some fans.
But others point to the fact he can’t necessarily do much worse than sacked technical director Tim Steidten.
Now a key Sullivan ally has dropped a major £160m bombshell as West Ham await a vital deal.
The win at Man United has whetted the appetite for what might be possible under Potter.
The logic being that it sets out a blueprint for how the Hammers will play on a regular basis when the former Brighton boss gets his own team together.
West Ham revealed they are looking to make at least five signings in a major transfer update last week.
That came amid green shoots off the pitch with news that a mystery mega-rich US investor has approached lawyers about buying the Gold family’s 25 per cent stake in West Ham.
Based on the Daniel Kretinsky buy-in of 2021 – which saw the Czech billionaire pay around £150m for 27 per cent of the club – the potential US deal would pump a similar figure into West Ham.
Since Kretinsky’s arrival, the Hammers have been among the top six spenders in the Premier League when it comes to transfers.
Sullivan ally drops major £160m West Ham bombshell
That’s why supporters, who have become used to seeing the kind of investment that was promised on leaving Upton Park, are so angry that the club is now having to sell to buy.
That situation is not unique, though, with the richest sports team on the planet, Newcastle United, ambitious Aston Villa and even well-run Spurs all having to satisfy PSR in the same way.
As talks are held in the background about the potential Gold shares sale, Sean Whetstone has made an astonishing new claim.
Hammers board insider Whetstone is a close confidant of Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady.
He has claimed that West Ham are facing up to a mammoth £160m financial black hole in the next year.
And that’s with the Hammers trimming £15m off their annual wage bill last week.
Whetstone says West Ham are projecting an £80-90m loss next season, a similar figure to the losses that will be announced in the latest accounts.
“West Ham’s projected loss for next season is between £80m and £90m,” Whetstone states on X.
“The saved wages of Danny Ings, Aaron Cresswell and Łukasz Fabiański are already factored in to that negative figure. The losses are mostly related to massive growth in amortisation of past transfers including a further £34m for Todibo this summer.
“The projected loss comes on top of a £75m/£80m loss this season which depends on the Hammers’ final league position later this month.”
It means the potential US deal can’t come quick enough for the Hammers.
The Gold family put as much as 25 per cent of the club up for sale back in October 2023.
US investment deal can’t come quick enough for West Ham
Vanessa Gold, who survives her sadly passed former West Ham co-owner dad David Gold and sister Jacqueline, announced the intention to sell in a statement on the club’s official site.
Now it seems selling that stake could essentially save West Ham from their PSR strife at just the right time.
A deal of that magnitude could take months to complete, even with both sides willing and able.
The news has sparked excitement and hope among the Hammers fanbase.
Now, if Whetstone’s claims about the club’s grim financial projections are accurate, it could solve West Ham’s problems.
Three big names have been suggested as the possible US investor.
All have been linked with a Hammers buy-in over the last year and all have access to serious wealth.
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