Simon Jordan has addressed the latest concerns from West Ham supporters in a scathing defence of the ownership.
David Sullivan and co have never been the most loved figures in East London, but the owners did listen to the supporters’ calls when replacing Graham Potter with Nuno Espirito Santo.
Following the Europa Conference League triumph in 2023, many believe that poor decision-making has prevented the Hammers from building on their European success.
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Now, a fresh concern has emerged as a hot topic of debate at the London Stadium, and Jordan has spoken out to sensationally quash the claims.
West Ham owner David Sullivan sits in the stands prior to Reading Women v West Ham United Ladies in the Women's FA Cup
Photo by James Chance/Getty Images
West Ham United cannot afford to build a new stadium
Speaking live on talkSPORT, co-host Jordan said West Ham fans are not being realistic when calling for the club to relocate for the second time in nine years.
“I don’t have any issue with them wanting better. When you start the premise of ‘we want a new stadium,’ right? That is silly. I understand the issues surrounding the stadium, and I understand that the challenges are maybe the Commonwealth stadium that was built for Man City had football in its back mind as a back stop, and maybe there are arguments to push back on the Man City example wasn’t a good one.
“Yeah. But I can tell you building a bloody stadium in London, because ‘well how come it cost only 800 million to build Everton Stadium?’ A, the land, and B, the contracts for the stadium, were signed 5 years ago. So get yourself across some knowledge before you start criticising mine.
“The cost implications of building a stadium in London will be in excess of two billion quid. You think someone’s going to rock through the door for West Ham United and spend two billion, and then what will happen is ultimately they’d have to pay for it.
“Even Abramovich was going to borrow money to rebuild Chelsea’s new stadium. So then you put the club into debt and then the players then then you won’t be able to buy this amount of players that you want and then the fans will be screaming about the fact that you’ve got a 2 billion pound stadium being built for you which does actually doesn’t have the quality of player because they can’t afford to buy the players.”
Many supporters feel the venue lacks the soul that made Upton Park so special. Despite West Ham earning lucrative matchday income, the highest out of the top six for the most recent season on record, the calls to pack up their bags and move once again are still as loud as ever.
Karren Brady and Sullivan promised that the move to the London Stadium would allow the club to show more ambition, and this has been the case thus far, with all the Irons’ top-10 most expensive signings in their history coming after the relocation.
Furthermore, West Ham are looking to secure a naming-rights deal in the foreseeable future, which could see the club earn an extra £15-20 million in revenue per year.
West Ham United have splashed the cash since moving to the London Stadium
Although the Hammers’ fourth most expensive signing Mohammed Kudus, departed to Tottenham in a £55m deal, the supporters cannot claim that the owners have not backed the team.
Regardless of individual opinion on the success of said signings, West Ham’s most expensive acquisitions total an approximate £363 million outlay.
Indeed, considering the earliest of those deals occurred in 2018, the overall amount is nothing in comparison to the money being spent at the top of the Premier League.
Player Year Transfer fee
Sebastian Haller 2019 £43.5m
Max Kilman 2024 £40.5m
Mateus Fernandes 2025 £38.3m
Mohammed Kudus 2023 £37.4m
Lucas Paqueta 2022 £37.3m
Jean-Clair Todibo 2025 £34.8m
Gianlucca Scamacca 2022 £33.6m
Edson Alvarez 2023 £33m
Felipe Anderson 2018 £33m
Kurt Zouma 2021 £30.4m
Statistics provided by Transfermarkt.
However, the club are nowhere near that level and must work on generating as much revenue as possible, both on and off the pitch, before they can reach the heights of their rivals, and a former Olympic venue certainly has the draw to match the ambition.