Source close to West Ham owners warns Everton to beware now imminent move

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West Ham will go to Everton next week with plenty of subplots around the fixture beyond the obvious ones in the dugout.

They say football is a funny old game.

Well West Ham and Everton are certainly proving that this season.

The biggest subplot to the game is new Toffees boss David Moyes of course.

The Scot returned to Premier League management for the first time since leaving West Ham last year when he returned to Goodison Park.

Graham Potter had actually been Everton’s prime target.

Subplots aplenty when West Ham go to Everton

But West Ham’s closer proximity to Brighton – where Potter’s family live – proved decisive.

Everton’s position and prospects at the time also looked grave with relegation a very distinct possibility.

Not now, though, after Moyes inspired an amazing turnaround with just two defeats in his first nine games.

A further layer of intrigue has been added to the upcoming clash by transfer links.

Hammers News suggested Moyes would come knocking for two West Ham stars when he was appointed by Everton.

Potter, Moyes and his two Czech boys

Sure enough those two players, Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal, have indeed been linked with summer moves to Everton of late this week.

Moyes refers to the duo as ‘my Czech boys’ and credits both with helping lay the foundation for his success at West Ham.

So it should be no surprise he might want them both to lead Everton into their new stadium next season.

And it is that which adds another subplot to this clash.

West Ham know all about transitioning from a beloved old ground to a new stadium.

Although Everton’s purpose-built Bramley-Moore Dock ground is a lot more appealing to Toffees supporters than the former Olympic Stadium was to West Ham’s.

Source close to West Ham owners warns Everton to beware

It is the man who oversaw it that provides the latest link between the two clubs, though.

And a source close to the West Ham owners has warned Everton to beware a now imminent move.

Everton have been without a permanent CEO since Denise Barrett-Baxendale’s resignation nearly two years ago. Colin Chong has taken on the role on an interim basis.

Everton’s new owners, headed up by Dan Friedkin, have been looking to appoint a permanent CEO ahead of the club’s move into their new stadium.

The likes of The Daily Mail claim Everton are now closing on a deal for Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear for the summer.

The name will be familiar to West Ham fans. Although not all of them may know he was the man employed to oversee their unpopular move to Stratford.

Man who led West Ham stadium move set for Everton

Kinnear was employed by Hammers vice-chair Karren Brady for four years at West Ham to lead the club’s move to the London Stadium.

He left the Hammers to join the Elland Road outfit in 2017.

Given supporters remain deeply unhappy with the stadium move nearly 10 years on, it is fair to say it has been controversial. Especially compared to what was promised – which included the pledge for a world-class retractable seating solution which never transpired.

Kinnear is also said to have had a key role in adding the word ‘London’ to West Ham’s badge against the wishes of fans. He had tried a similar thing at Arsenal before joining the Irons but was unsuccessful.

Kinnear oversaw periods of controversy at Leeds too. Not least leading a hugely controversial plan to change the club’s badge which sparked a major backlash and eventual U-turn.

Now he’s on the verge of being handed a new gig with Everton, a close confidant of West Ham’s owners has spoken out.

Everton warned to expect rebranding led by Kinnear

Sean Whetstone is a top Hammers insider with connections to David Sullivan and Brady.

And he has warns Everton that Kinnear is known to ruffle feathers with unpopular calls early on at a club.

So much so they should expect a rebranding as part of his arrival.

“Former West ham managing director Angus Kinnear, now the Leeds United chief executive, is set to join former West Ham manager David Moyes at Everton – but not until the end of the season,” Whetstone said on X.

“The Daily Mail says they understand that Kinnear is closing in on a switch across the Pennines as new owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) seek to rebuild as the club moves to its new stadium this summer.

“Kinnear joined the Hammers in 2013 from Arsenal where he was their marketing director and is largely credited for changing the club crest and putting the word London on it, something he also tried and failed at Arsenal.

“Angus also over saw the move to the London Stadium in 2016 due to his experience on helping move Arsenal to emirates. He left West Ham to join Leeds in 2017 and in 2018 he faced a supporter backlash when he tried to change Leeds crest so Everton fans should expect a similar rebranding after the summer and a change of crest.”