While a number of West Ham’s Premier League rivals are under multi-club ownership, and regularly engage in transfers with affiliate clubs, it is somewhat surprising that the Hammers are yet to work more closely with Daniel Kretinsky’s Sparta Prague. Marek Stech and [Tomas Repka,](https://www.claretandhugh.info/the-angriest-man-in-football/) former Sparta players, have donned the claret and blue of West Ham, but this occurred long before Kretinsky became a shareholder at West Ham in November 2021.
Since then a number of high profile players have left Sparta Prague with mixed success. Adam Hlozek, joined Bayern Leverkusen in 2022 for a fee of €13m, before moving to Hoffenheim in August 2024. Czech Republic international centre-back Ladislav Krejci transferred to Spanish side Girona for a modest €8m last summer.
Striker Tomas Cvancara, now 24, left Sparta in 2023 after scoring 19 goals in 39 appearances and signed with German Bundesliga club Borussia Mochengladbach.
There are conflicting reports around Kretinsky’s involvement in the signings of Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek and briefly Alex Kral. All three had played for Sparta’s rival, Slavia Prague and it was rumoured that Coufal was recommended to-then West Ham manager David Moyes by his close friend and ex team mate, Tomas Soucek.
West Ham’s Academy could greatly benefit from loaning players to Sparta Prague, with European football providing mutual advantages.
Claret and Hugh approached a senior source about the potential to loaning players to Sparta Prague in a joint venture, and the reply was _“No, but we never say never”._
UEFA rules prevent anyone having “control” or “influence” over two clubs in the same UEFA competition – although these rules are frequently tested. Tony Bloom, is involved with both Brighton and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, while Aston Villa’s owners have a stake in Portugal’s Vitoria Guimares – all four clubs participated in last seasons Europa Conference League. Aston Villa and Brighton had to make significant changes to comply with UEFA rules.
To navigate multi club ownership regulations one common solution is to reduce a stake in one of those clubs. Tony Bloom has already done this with Royal Union Saint-Gilloise, while Evangelos Marinakis has diluted his control of Nottingham Forest, to avoid complications given Olympiakos have qualified for Europe. The other option is to put one of the teams into a blind trust so an individual cannot exert influence over two clubs. Chelsea are exploring this option, given their owners Blue Co are also the parent club of Strasbourg. City Football club, which owns Manchester City previously moved Girona into a blind trust, and similarly Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe did this to Nice and Lausanne Sport.
Daniel Kretinsky has a 50% stake in Sparta Prague and 27% in West Ham, with no plans to increase his share holding for now. As West Ham focus on a squad rebuild under Graham Potter, aspirations for European qualification remain distant, and it remains unclear whether any players from Sparta Prague will be part of that future.