A new report has named the four players West Ham plan to sell to bridge the financial chasm if relegated but the fees for the star quartet are nothing short of laughable.
West Ham announced club record £104m losses in their latest accounts at the end of last month and further big losses are coming in the next accounts too.
So the prospect of West Ham falling off the Premier League gravy train is a grim one.
In the wake of those losses, which were the worst in Premier League history until Chelsea announced a deficit of over £300m when they filed theirs, West Ham made their stance on a player fire sale clear.
West Ham will sell Bowen, Summerville, Fernandes and Wan-Bissaka if they drop, journalist claims
The Hammers have made it clear that player sales will be the first port of call to bridge the huge chasm in finances if the club is relegated.
Now the four stars West Ham will sell if relegated have been named but the fees are simply laughable.
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The i Paper journalist Julian Taylor has revealed that West Ham have been warned a “fire sale” of their leading stars will be needed this summer, especially if they drop into the Championship.
Taylor was speaking to football finance and governance expert Paul Quinn about the state of the Hammers’ finances.
And he claims captain Jarrod Bowen, in-form hero Crysencio Summerville, brilliant midfield star Mateus Fernandes and swashbuckling right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka are in line to be offloaded by West Ham this summer to help avoid the financial abyss.
However, the fees being touted for the star quartet will leave West Ham fans not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Other than the £105m fee for Declan Rice, West Ham are notoriously poor at getting top value when selling players.
Arsenal fans even goad the Hammers about that deal, calling the midfielder ‘half price Rice’ – a nod to the suggestion the Gunners underpaid for the former Hammers skipper – a sentiment David Moyes agrees with.
Hammers may have to offload £200m of talent for just £100m
West Ham paid £20.5m for Bowen and shelled out just £26m to sign Summerville from Leeds.
The Hammers got Wan-Bissaka out of Man United for just £15m and, somewhat uncharacteristically, paid top dollar for Fernandes in a £40m deal with Southampton.
This is shocking! 😰 Relegation is going to be dire for West Ham…
What would YOU do to avoid this mess?
Each and every one of those four key stars is worth a significant amount more than their original fees.
But according to Taylor’s report, West Ham may be forced to offload all four at a shockingly low £100m combined.
Bowen has a contract until 2030 with West Ham holding a one-year option on that deal too.
So his worth would be at least £60-70m, if not more.
Summerville would be a £60m player on this form while Fernandes is looking like a £70-80m player quite comfortably with some big clubs allegedly showing interest.
Wan-Bissaka would also be worth at least double his £15m fee.
That means those four players should be worth at least £200-230m – as a conservative total.
But Taylor’s report states West Ham could be forced to take half that if they drop.
Expert says ‘West Ham has been terribly run’
“They would have to enter the Championship with a much reduced squad, sell their best, most expensive players”, Quinn told Taylor.
“They’ll end up with a younger squad with less established players…
“There’s no doubt that in recent years the club has been terribly run and poor commercial and footballing decisions have been made.”
A fire sale may even be needed if West Ham remain a Premier League side come what May.
The Hammers’ board have warned that, while currently compliant with financial fair play rules at the time of writing, player sales may be needed even if they stay in the Premier League should there be a risk of a breach.
As a result, there is a possibility player sales will be needed even if West Ham do manage to survive.
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