Graham Potter could be quids in if he leads West Ham to victory over Nottingham Forest as a £10m bonus is just one of the carrots dangling.
West Ham bring what has been a completely forgettable and regrettable Premier League season to a close at the London Stadium against Nottingham Forest.
There’s plenty riding on the Hammers’ last home game of the season – and not just for Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side know they must win in order to have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League on the final day of the season next weekend.
West Ham were the side being tipped as dark horses for UEFA’s top competition last summer.
Plenty to play for as West Ham face Forest
After a £155m spend on nine new players, there was a buzz around east London.
But as always seems to be the case when West Ham go out and spend big, as they did under Manuel Pellegrini too, things simply have not worked out.
So much so that Graham Potter found himself back in work after nearly two years out of the game following his sacking by Chelsea.
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Potter has – by his own admission – found things tough at West Ham.
Just four wins in 17 games speaks to that.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
West Ham had regressed from 13th to 17th under Potter over the last four months.
But the 2-0 win at Man United last weekend has lifted the Hammers to 15th and given some meaning to the last couple of matches.
Now Potter is in line for a £10m bonus as major West Ham carrots are dangled for the Nottingham Forest clash.
Money is tight at West Ham this summer.
The club has made it clear they are at their PSR limit and must sell players in order to buy.
The problem is Potter needs to oversee a significant rebuild – and that won’t come cheap.
Potter’s £10m bonus as major West Ham carrots are dangled
Forest have secured Europa League football and are said to be ready to spend big on four or five signings to bolster their squad.
West Ham are targeting at least that themselves.
This week the Hammers confirmed a new striker and midfield revamp top priorities.
So Potter needs every penny he can get his hands on.
And that makes the Forest clash absolutely huge.
Because at least £10m is on the table for Potter if he can secure a win over Nuno’s men.
One of the reasons West Ham have cited for their poor PSR position is unexpected underperformance in the league.
West Ham head coach Graham Potter and majority owner David Sullivan
Credit: Bryn Lennon/Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
As well as missing out on the additional £20m revenue European football brings, the Irons are also £30m down on what they expected to be making from Premier League merit payments.
Each league position in the top flight is worth just over £3m in merit payments.
This is where the Forest game becomes very important for West Ham and Potter on two levels.
Firstly, a victory will guarantee the Hammers will finish above rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
While that is no great feat this season, it does at least give West Ham fans some bragging rights going into the summer and next season.
Spurs and Man United lost to Villa and Chelsea respectively on Friday night, leaving Forest needing to beat West Ham to have any chance of upgrading to Champions League football next season.
Finishing above Tottenham and Man United would give the Hammers some semblance of meaning from a terrible campaign.
It would also help build some much-needed positivity and hope around the club going into the summer.
Forest win would secure bragging rights and extra cash for Hammers
That is when Potter’s important work begins.
And he could secure at least an extra £10m for transfers by beating Forest.
Victory would guarantee West Ham finish at least 15th, which would pocket West Ham around £6.5m in merit money.
It could also move them above Wolves and Everton into 13th place – worth over £12m in merit payments.
With already relegated Ipswich next up, the Hammers would start to feel confident of ending the campaign with three victories.
Wolves have Palace and Brentford in their last two games while Everton have Saints and Newcastle.
So West Ham will secure at least £6.5m by beating Forest and may be able to almost double it by next weekend.
Finally some tangible meaning to West Ham’s season.