The latest news that **West Ham** are willing to fund Graham Potter’s purchases in the [transfer](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfer-news/) window—even if no players are sold—is startling.
I’ve long argued that the Hammers board’s reluctance to support transfer activity had more to do with a lack of desire than any PSR concerns.
Not long ago, an article in The Athletic suggested West Ham could spend up to £95m without incurring penalties for financial breaches. Yet despite that, the club clung to a suicidal, self-imposed policy of selling before buying.
It’s now clear that the financial restrictions had more to do with cash flow than PSR regulations. And considering we have three billionaires on the board, that approach seemed entirely unnecessary.
Now, the club appears to have finally woken up—driven by the belief that the current squad are relegation candidates. In my opinion, that’s absolutely the case. Graham Potter, known for being a long-term project manager, has been unable to get a tune out of the players he inherited.
So it was always going to be a huge risk to leave him underfunded when he needed support most. It was also ridiculous to pay Chelsea £1m in compensation for Kyle Macaulay to head up recruitment, only to give him nothing to work with.
Perhaps we should be pleased that common sense is beginning to prevail. But who knows how far behind West Ham have already fallen in the race for summer signings?
The big question remains—if the club can now afford to back [Potter](https://www.claretandhugh.info/potters-hand-forced-galatasaray-want-relegated-star/) and fear relegation, why was there so little urgency when the window opened?