Could West Ham United’s relegation after 14 consecutive years of Premier League football force David Sullivan into a sale?
Unlikely, is the verdict of former Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow.
Daniel Kretinsky won a power struggle with David Sullivan when it was confirmed that Nuno Espirito Santo will be staying at the London Stadium. Reports allege that Kretinsky wanted the manager to stick around, while Sullivan was in favour of a new appointment.
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The so-called ‘Czech sphinx’ upped his stake in the club too, following the passing of David Gold. Formerly a minority shareholder at West Ham United, Kretinsky is now understood to be on largely equal footing with Sullivan.
So, is there a world in which Kretinsky buys out the remainder of Sullivan’s shares and takes full control? Purslow cannot see it. At least, not while West Ham are a Championship club.
Christian Purslow says David Sullivan will not sell West Ham United
Purslow has expressed his doubts about a Kretinsky takeover in the past and does so again now that the club’s revenues will be hit hard by relegation. Simply put, if Sullivan was ever going to sell West Ham for the highest possible price, doing so now would be like trying to trade in your car while brakes are shot.
“I passionately believe – I’m certain – that Kretinsky is now stepping up his ownership,” Purslow, who held senior roles at Liverpool and Chelsea before a spell as Aston Villa’s chief executive, tells The Football Boardroom podcast.
“Let’s go back to basics; money. Kretinsky bought a quarter of this club for £150 million or £160 million, which valued West Ham at £600 million. It ain’t worth £600 million today. So Kretinsky is down!
“The record price in the Championship is probably £150 million for a club. West Ham is a bigger club [than others at the level], but they’re not selling.
“All I’m telling you is right now, to use a very investor-orientated concept, if Daniel Kretinsky is marking to market the value of his equity in West Ham, it’s down. A lot. And he’s just had to up his investment to buy out a chunk of the Gold family equity.
“My point is, Kretinsky may be a ‘sphinx’, he may be quiet, he may be inscrutable, but he’s definitely being more hands-on with this investment now because it’s going wrong. I think he will be demanding professionalized management.
“He will be demanding an experienced technical or sporting director who, by the way, knows the job in hand. I keep coming back to it; it’s not rocket science.
“When Kretinsky bought his equity in 2021, they were flying high. David Moyes was in there doing his stuff, at the top end of the league, and not long after they won a trophy. It was all rosy in the garden. He’s getting a quarter of a London club in a stadium on the deal of the century; what’s not to like?”
When Purslow was pressed further on the prospect of a full takeover, he said;
“No, [it won’t happen]. Sullivan won’t sell because the price has gone down. Right now, the club is in a perilous position. It’s a much less attractive club to own today than it was five years ago because it’s just got relegated.
“That means the revenues are dramatically down, the losses are dramatically up, and they’re facing turmoil in terms of their playing squad.”
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Director search could see Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky butt heads
Axel Disasi has confirmed his departure already. Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville will almost certainly leave, and that is before you mention Dinos Mavropanos, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Tomas Soucek, Taty Castellanos and Jarrod Bowen.
“I think what they have done is said, ‘Look, Sullivan, Kretinsky, nobody else is going to buy a stake in the club right now with all this coming. It’s on us. OK, we’re both going to step up [our ownership] to 40 per cent’,” Purslow says.
“This summer is on them, and they’re going to have to agree on a lot. I called it power-sharing. They’re going to have to agree on who’s going to lead them back.”
While Kretinsky won the battle regarding Nuno’s future, further disputes could be in the pipeline behind the scenes. The club want to hire a director of football. Middlesbrough chief Kieran Scott has emerged as a target.
“Let’s say David does say, ‘Leave it to me. I know what I’m doing. Leave it to me’. There’s no way Kretinsky is saying, ‘That’s OK!’,” Purslow predicts.
“He’s saying, ‘Absolutely no way. I’ve just bought 13 per cent more of the club. I’m down on the value of my stake. I’m getting a professional sporting director in.’
“But now the problem; let’s say that sporting director comes in and Nuno doesn’t like him. What happens next?”
Nuno famously fell out with Edu Gaspar at Nottingham Forest. He is not someone who tends to like ceding control.
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