There have been conflicting reports over the future of Daniel Kretinsky at West Ham this week.
Hammers News exclusive
West Ham fans don’t know whether they are coming or going at the moment.
Neither does the club’s second biggest stakeholder and richest co-owner Daniel Kretinsky if reports are to be believed.
The Hammers face a hugely significant summer transfer window.
After last summer’s poorly planned £155m splurge – in which Tim Steidten has now admitted he made several mistakes – West Ham cannot afford any more missteps.
Graham Potter has come in to rebuild the team around younger talent.
But he can only do that if he receives backing from above with significant funds.
On the one hand, West Ham’s board has been telling anyone who will listen that the cupboards are bare.
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On the other, top journalist David Ornstein has called the Hammers’ bluff and says they will, in fact, be very active.
The line from the club is that players must be sold in order to fund any signings for Potter.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
In the modern day of PSR, that has been the case for many clubs – not least the world’s richest, Newcastle, who rather farcically had to sell two of their best young players to Premier League rivals to comply.
West Ham’s desperation for cashflow has become apparent recently too.
The Hammers did a £69m deal with Barclays which saw them forfeit £4m by way of payment in order to get access to the remaining £65m of transfer money owed to them to help fund last summer’s spending.
West Ham have braced fans for £80m losses on the horizon in their next set of accounts too.
And the Hammers brought forward season ticket renewals by two months – with unprecedented perks attached to encourage early renewal by Monday.
With that uncertainty hanging over the club, the last thing West Ham fans wanted to hear is that Kretinsky is thinking about selling his 27 per cent stake and investing in another Premier League side.
West Ham fan anger over claims Kretinsky could sell up
Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey claimed on TBR that Kretinsky is considering selling his stake for around £200m – £50m more than he paid for it.
Bailey claims Kretinsky is ‘somewhat frustrated with how West Ham is being run’.
He also stated that the 49-year-old known as ‘the Czech Sphinx’ is unwilling to wait much longer to increase his stake.
Kretinsky, it was stated, is even considering investing in a rival Premier League club if he gets a sale.
Hammers supporters were quick to vent their anger at the Kretinsky claims.
Inside West Ham's London Stadium. Inset, West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky either side of vice-chair Karren Brady.
Inside West Ham’s London Stadium. Inset, West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky either side of vice-chair Karren Brady. Credit: Getty Images/Julian Finney/James Chance/Glyn Kirk/Joel Saget/AFP
West Ham respond to £200m Kretinsky claim after ‘shock U-turn’
Much of their ire has been directed at majority owner David Sullivan, with many fans having retained hope Kretinsky would increase his stake rather than sell up.
No sooner had those claims been made than a club insider dismissed them on Claret and Hugh.
The report went one further, though, stating Kretinsky was actually more likely to buy West Ham outright.
That in itself would be troublesome of course given UEFA’s strict rules on multi-club ownership as Kretinsky owns his boyhood club Sparta Prague.
It would pose particular issues if West Ham have any designs on getting back into Europe, where Sparta are more or less mainstays due to their grip on Czech football alongside rivals Slavia.
Hammers News reached out to the top spokesperson close to West Ham’s owners and Kretinsky himself for clarity on the situation.
The response from one half of the board could be revealing.
West Ham’s revealing response to Kretinsky situation
“We don’t think that’s true,” the spokesman exclusively told Hammers News when asked if Kretinsky is considering selling up.
Hammers News then put to the owners that the use of the word ‘think’ might suggest something could be afoot.
Especially in light of the shock new claims of a complete U-turn which could see Kretinsky buy the club outright.
The response could be equally telling as the spokesman added: “You will need to ask him not the other board members. But I doubt he’ll respond.”
Time will tell in that regard.
But cynics would say it is sounds there might be a lack of cohesion or understanding in boardroom.
Since arriving at the London Stadium in November 2021, Kretinsky has doubled his net worth from an estimated £6.5bn to over £13bn – and counting.
The rise in his personal wealth saw West Ham rise above Aston Villa and Man City to have the third richest owners in the Premier League.
West Ham have been the sixth biggest spenders in the top flight since his arrival too.
It is the kind of investment and ambition supporters wanted and expected to see after promises made to them on reluctantly leaving their beloved Upton Park home of 112 years.