Daniel Kretinsky revealed he was set for a series of West Ham meetings and they were clearly a major success if a new leak about the club’s top stars is anything to go by.
You don’t become a multi-billionaire energy tycoon without being ruthless and matter-of-fact in your business.
So the way Daniel Kretinsky is handling business since becoming West Ham’s majority owner should surprise nobody.
Kretinsky, the 24th wealthiest person on the 2026 Sunday Times Rich List, has bold and exciting plans for West Ham.
Kretinsky meetings with top West Ham stars a major success
After ensuring Nuno Espirito Santo remained Hammers boss despite relegation to the Championship, keeping the club’s star players was the Czech Sphinx’s next top priority.
West Ham needed to plug a £90m hole in the club’s finances by the end of June.
What STOOD OUT to you in Daniel Kretinsky’s statement?
The 'Czech Sphinx' has big ambitions…
In the official statement on West Ham’s website after Kretinsky had purchased an additional 16 per cent of the club, it was confirmed that move has injected those required funds.
West Ham shares are worth £5.6m each based on Kretinsky paying £150m for 27 per cent back in 2021.
So Kretinsky buying up 16 per cent is bang on £90m.
It means the Hammers are now under no pressure to sell star players for financial reasons, as Kretinsky made clear in a short but sweet interview with The Times.
What he also made clear was that he was meeting personally with the club’s key stars and believed they were willing to stay as long as he made good on promises about his ambition and the club’s aims.
Now it seems those Kretinsky West Ham meetings have been a major success after a leak about the top stars.
Because the Hammers now believe six fundamental players will be staying after talks with Kretinsky and it means the Championship title should be a formality.
Bowen, Soucek and Taty among key stars willing to stay at West Ham
Captain Jarrod Bowen, vice-captain Tomas Soucek, centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos, left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, fan favourite striker Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen are all willing to remain at the London Stadium in the second tier.
That’s according to Claret and Hugh, who claim club sources have indicated the super six are committed to getting West Ham back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.
What do you think will be the biggest DIFFERENCE in the Kretinsky era? 🤔
Max Hahn's comments speak volumes…
The news tallies with what Hammers News has reported recently on each of those key individuals.
After revealing the skipper had told the club he wants to stay, Hammers News reported that a home improvement firm all but confirmed Bowen is staying in east London.
Soucek also hinted at a West Ham stay as long as he liked what he heard from Kretinsky and Nuno, which the report suggests he was.
In the wake of West Ham’s relegation, it was claimed Taty Castellanos had no intention of playing in the second tier.
But Taty appeared to perform a U-turn on his West Ham future with a post on social media.
Malick Diouf was expected to depart with several clubs interested but it seems he, Mavropanos and Hermansen have joined Bowen and co in committing to the club.
With some clever signings, it means the Championship title should be a procession for Nuno and the squad.
Even if they do end up selling the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jean-Clair Todibo.
While West Ham would be happy to keep Fernandes and Summerville – as first exclusively revealed by Hammers News – the club is actively looking to offload Todibo and Wan-Bissaka, who both fell out of favour with Nuno.
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