Billionaire majority West Ham owner David Sullivan has denied costing the club their dream boss by being a cheapskate and has warned Man United.
Along with Manchester United, West Ham have been among the top five spenders in the Premier League over the last two years.
There are only two clubs in the Premier League richer than the Hammers’ owners too.
Having rich owners has become a necessity to fund transfers and remain competitive in the modern game.
While clubs are increasingly required to be self-sufficient, West Ham and Man United fans are no different to others in that they want owners who are willing to use their deep pockets to fund transfers and show ambition.
In terms of combined net worth, West Ham’s owners are the top flight’s third wealthiest. Although they’re still worth less than second-placed Man United now they have INEOS on board.
It comes after co-owner Daniel Kretinsky’s fortune doubled from £6bn to over £12bn in the last 12 months.
Majority owner David Sullivan is worth over £1.2bn.
So West Ham fans are understandably angry after a sensational new claim on talkSPORT yesterday.
Manchester United look set to appoint young Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim after approaching Sporting to buy him out of his contract.
It was reported that Amorim had agreed terms to replace David Moyes at West Ham only for Sullivan to get cold feet over his £8.3m release clause and paying for the Portuguese’s throng of staff.
Amorim now looks set to become the new Man United manager.
Sullivan denies costing West Ham dream boss by being cheap
That’s after West Ham were the Premier League’s Grim Reaper again when Erik ten Hag was added to their list of managers sacked after losing to them following Man United’s 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium.
Hammers fans – much like many Manchester United supporters right now – were giddy with excitement at the prospect of appointing the innovative 39-year-old when Amorim flew for talks with Sullivan in London.
The move collapsed and Amorim apologised to Sporting fans for meeting West Ham.
Hammers supporters were gutted when the move for Amorim hit the skids.
It’s one of the big reasons many were so underwhelmed by the eventual appointment of Julen Lopetegui.
But now Sullivan has denied costing West Ham their dream boss by being a cheapskate and has warned Man United.
Despite West Ham’s board having to collectively sign off on any spend over £1m, Sullivan has been accused of pulling the plug on Amorim.
The billionaire does take a lead on club matters as majority owner. But any decisions on transfer spending, including paying compensation for a manager and his staff, would need to be granted by a board vote.
Yet Sullivan has been accused of scuppering what would have been a hugely exciting appointment.
Now Amorim looks set for Man United, it stings even more for Hammers fans.
Giving Sullivan the right of reply, it was made clear to Hammers News that compensation was not the only reason the Amorim deal collapsed.
Hammers chief warns Man United over Amorim
He insists while they liked the soon-to-be Red Devils boss, they chose Lopetegui instead.
But there was also a warning for Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe about their prospective new manager.
“There were many reasons we didn’t appoint Ruben (not just compensation and paying for staff),” a top spokesman for Sullivan told Hammers News.
“He’s a great manager, but he’s a huge gamble AS HE’S ONLY DONE IT in his own country with one club.
“We liked him very much, but we chose Julen.”
That may not pacify angry Hammers fans.
Especially after the unconvincing start to life in east London for Lopetegui, who was ironically also linked with the Old Trafford hotseat in the summer.
That will make very interesting reading for Manchester United supporters.
Whether the warning will make Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co think twice about Amorim remains to be seen.
One thing is for certain, West Ham’s fans are casting an envious glare at Old Trafford right now.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
