You do not need a PHD in economics to realise that things are a little concerning right now regarding West Ham United’s finances and the prospect of relegation.
The Hammers posted a record £104 million loss in the 2024/25 accounts recently. Thus, leading the board to admit publicly that players may have to be sold to readdress the balance, especially in the event of relegation.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Hammers News a fortnight ago, believes that West Ham would have to ‘substantially’ reduce their wage bill should they drop into the Championship.
OK, this might actually be happening… 🤯
Image this; West Ham stay up at Spurs' expense!
Now, speaking on the Football Boardroom podcast, former Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow has given his take on the situation facing West Ham United.
West Ham United and Tottenham would both be hit hard by relegation
A lot has been made of the staggering financial impact relegation would have on a free-falling Tottenham Hotspur. But, Purslow explains, things would not be massively different at a West Ham side who have gone from Europa League regulars and Conference League champions to 18th place in the space of two-and-a-half years.
“The big story at West Ham is at the ownership level,” says Purslow. “Four or five years ago, the Sullivan-Gold partnership – they’ve been together at Birmingham, at West Ham for donkey’s years, a very long-standing, extremely close business relationship in and out of football – they brought in a third investor into West Ham.
“A man called Daniel Kretinsky; known in the financial markets as the ‘Czech Sphinx’.” Let’s just say West Ham has not delivered for the Royal Mailman!”
Kretinsky, whose EP Group completed a £3.6 billion acquisition of Royal Mail’s parent company in 2025, took a 27 per cent stake of West Ham in 2021. Purslow currently cannot envisage a situation where the minority shareholder becomes a majority owner.
“[It] looked like a very, very clever piece of business by David Sullivan, David Gold, and Karren Brady at the time, which was to sell about a quarter of the club to this sophisticated investor for about £180 million, valuing West Ham at about £600 million,” adds Purslow.
“And by the way, part of that deal was that if Mr. Kretinsky wanted to go on and buy the rest of the club -i.e., to buy Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Gold out completely – [he could] at the same value.
“I think it was ‘market’ at the time. It was the market value for a ‘non-Big Six’ club that had a genuine claim at that moment to be ‘the best of the rest’.” London, history, branding…
“It just goes to show how fragile [things can be, how the situation has changed since then].”
Christian Purslow explains Daniel Kretinsky problem
Maguire warns that West Ham will not have a get-out-of-jail-free card a la the £105 million sale of Declan Rice should they fail to climb over Tottenham and Nottingham Forest during the run-in, although Summerville, Fernandes and captain Bowen would still bring in substantial sums.
It would be difficult to imagine Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville, Axel Disasi and Mateus Fernandes staying around in the second tier anyway, regardless of those lingering monetary concerns.
“Let me show you what operating risk is. West Ham, when Kretinsky bought 27 per cent, were at ‘Peak David Moyes.’ Declan Rice was still there. They win a European trophy. They’re 6th or 7th place in the Premier League. They are firing on all cylinders in a stadium that costs them not much a year,” Purslow details.
“That looks like a great piece of business for Kretinsky and a great piece of business for the owners. They’ve sold a quarter of the club at a £600 million value. And we all know that minority stakes are less valuable than majority stakes.
“So in effect, [Sullivan and Gold] are saying: ‘We’ve sold a quarter at 600; the rest will be worth a lot more, maybe he’ll buy it’.
How many points will be needed to keep us up this season?! 🤔
“And then what happened next? Four years later, they’re third from bottom in the Premier League. Fans are protesting. Mr. Kretinsky, I think to some people’s surprise, hasn’t shown the slightest willingness to buy any more of the football club.
“Very sadly, David Gold passed away not that long after Kretinsky bought into the club. Declan Rice was sold. And Mr. Gold’s family’s interest has been for sale and remains for sale. One thing’s for sure; if they are relegated, selling that Gold family stake becomes even more difficult.
“And here is the profound implication; when you have a quarter of a big business like [West Ham] for sale, then it makes actually putting money into the club and raising money much more complicated.”
West Ham must get a result against Manchester City
Of course, relegation and the sale of so many star men would be the worst-case scenario. But thanks to a season which only really got going in February, this worst-case scenario is also a very realistic one, recent resurgence aside.
The good news is that West Ham have successfully reeled in Tottenham and Forest. They have picked up 12 more points than the former since mid-January, and eight more than the latter.
The Hammers can overtake both this weekend if they beat Man City, provided Spurs and Forest lose to Liverpool and Fulham respectively.
“I noticed when I saw West Ham’s accounts last week that the auditors pointed out that the club needs significant – they use the word ‘liquidity’ – money put into the club this summer, whether in the Premier League or even more if in the Championship,” Purslow concludes.
“We call that a ‘going concern’ statement. It’s when your auditors look at the next 12 months and assess a business’s ability to meet its obligations.
“[The auditors] are raising a flag that West Ham needs a ‘liquidity event.’ Now, in football, what does a liquidity event mean? It generally means selling footballers to raise cash.
“And West Ham are quite clear; they have always been a club that will sell players if they need to raise money. And if they don’t raise enough money from player sales, then the shareholders will have to come up with the money because they’ve already got pretty big bank facilities.”
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