The West Ham United supporters should have one less thing to worry about following the news that Daniel Kretinsky is set to replace David Sullivan as the biggest shareholder at the London Stadium.
That is according to Kieran Maguire, the football finance expert.
Back in February, Maguire calmed fears of a potential PSR breach when speaking exclusively to Hammers News. Either side of a bitterly-disappointing conclusion to the Premier League season, The Price of Football author now has more good news for a fanbase fearing the impact of relegation on their financial situation.
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West Ham United will still have to sell a couple of key players – Manchester United are in the box seat for Mateus Fernandes – but news that Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is set to increase his stake beyond David Sullivan’s 38 per cent provides ‘a degree of comfort’.
Kretinsky is understood to be increasing his stake to 43 per cent. This means he will inject a cool £90 million into the club.
And, in a statement provided by West Ham’s official website, Kretinsky confirmed his desire to ‘retain as many key players as possible’ in order to ‘secure an immediate return to the Premier League’.
Kieran Maguire reacts to West Ham United’s Daniel Kretinsky announcement
Music to the ears.
“I think in the short term, [taking a majority stake] will give West Ham fans a bit of comfort because Daniel Kretinsky is a very wealthy individual,” Maguire tells TalkSPORT. “He’s now the dominant shareholder.
“I think [Kretinsky and the other shareholders] will work together to provide the necessary funding that West Ham require over the course of the summer.
“West Ham, in their most recent accounts, they owed £196 million in unpaid transfer fees. This isn’t excessive by Premier League standards, but it still would have been financially very challenging for them to deal with this summer because they don’t have all the Premier League monies.
“So, I think some of the West Ham fans were concerned. Clearly, they are going to have to sell some players. But I think this will give a degree of comfort to those fans, in terms of the direction of the club going forwards.”
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Kretinsky determined to keep the Hammers squad together
The likely sale of Fernandes to Manchester United should add a further between £60 – £80 million to the coffers.
Crysencio Summerville is another who seems destined to leave, but West Ham may no longer be under the same pressure to cash in on the likes of Dinos Mavropanos, Tomas Soucek, Taty Castellanos and captain Jarrod Bowen.
“They’re going to have to use the exit door. There’s no doubt about that,” adds Maguire. “But they’ve got the physical cash now because Daniel Kretinsky independently is wealthy.
“He has indicated that he’s willing to provide further funds through his company – 1890 Holdings – and I think that was the major concern for West Ham fans. So, that will be good.
“I would expect them to be competitive in the summer. Yes, they’re certainly going to lose some of their better players, but that’s always the case when a major club is relegated.”
Maguire believes that Kretinsky will have plans to increase his stake even further in the relatively near future.
“I suspect he’ll be looking for more than 50 per cent because that will allow him to dictate the strategy of the club going forwards, in terms of how it invests both on and off the pitch.
“And on the back of that, we have seen him recently move from being a minority investor in quite a few companies to taking them over.”
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