West Ham are set to embark on a summer transfer spending spree after a double revelation about new majority owner Daniel Kretinsky.
West Ham are targeting the Championship title next season or – at the very least – automatic promotion.
That has been made clear by Nuno Espirito Santo and the club’s new majority owner Daniel Kretinsky.
The Hammers will have the added safety net of an extended Championship play-offs on their first season in the second tier for 14 years.
West Ham to embark on £100m spending spree
That means West Ham could finish as low as eighth and still have a chance of promotion back to the Premier League.
The club has only been good enough to finish in the play-offs in each of their last three seasons in the Championship.
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But automatic promotion is the minimum expectation for Nuno’s side after their ludicrous relegation despite being one of the 17 highest earning clubs in world football.
The squad will need to be strengthened and key players retained to achieve that, though.
With pre-season training starting on Monday, some Hammers fans have been questioning when the club is going to start making signings.
Especially after selling Mateus Fernandes for a Championship record £85m.
The good news is that West Ham will embark on a spending spree after a double Kretinsky revelation.
Kretinsky purchased an additional 16 per cent of West Ham to become the club’s majority owner.
Kretinsky to fund war chest after promises to West Ham stars
At £5.6m per share, that injected the £90m needed by the end of June to plug a hole in the club’s finances.
Fernandes’ sale bridges the majority of the losses West Ham will experience as a result of relegation.
What STOOD OUT to you in Daniel Kretinsky’s statement?
The 'Czech Sphinx' has big ambitions…
It also means the club can keep key players like captain Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos – who have all told Kretinsky they are willing to stay on one condition – that West Ham’s new regime prove their ambition.
Bloomberg claims sources close to Kretinsky have revealed to them the Czech billionaire is set to inject £100m into the club purely to fund Nuno’s transfer war chest in order to guarantee promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking.
And that tallies with what has been promised to key stars by Kretinsky.
The energy tycoon held a series of positive meetings with key stars such as Bowen and Soucek – who both feature in West Ham’s new kit reveal alongside the likes of Taty, Mads Hermansen and Soungoutou Magassa.
In a rare and brief interview with The Times last month, Kretinsky revealed key players were waiting for the club to prove its ambition.
“They want to see there is a real chance of keeping the squad together,” Kretinsky said.
“What matters (to them) is funding, strategy and consistency. We have spoken to all of them. They need to see that our project is real and serious. Promotion is our only goal.”
That is why Kretinsky is now set to inject £100m as West Ham look to blow their Championship rivals out of the water and get back to the big time.
That show of intent and ambition should ensure key players like Bowen stay with Soucek having already publicly committed his future to West Ham this week.
Transfer plans are expected to be expedited when Nuno and his staff return for training next week alongside the expected appointment of Nils Koppen as head of recruitment.
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