West Ham United have dropped a £100 million transfer bombshell as they make a new claim regarding Graham Potter’s summer budget.
The first mini summer transfer window has now closed and it was a complete non-event for West Ham.
The window will “re-open” again in six days and clubs will then have until 7pm on September 1st to get their business done.
In reality there is nothing stopping clubs working on deals in the background over the next week, they just won’t be able to register the signings until after June 16th.
Not that it’s a particular problem for West Ham.
The Hammers need to have one of their best windows in years after a dismal 18 months which has yielded just 15 wins from the last 57 Premier League matches under three managers.
West Ham’s stuck in the mud over transfers
Graham Potter has put on record he wants to lower the age of the Premier League’s oldest squad.
The Englishman has also stated he wants to trim the West Ham squad down as he feels it contains too many senior players for a club not in European competition, which makes it hard to foster the kind of togetherness and team spirit needed to be successful.
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Potter has also stated West Ham fans are in for an “exciting and interesting” summer.
With “window number one” now over it’s certainly been more of the latter than the former.
West Ham continue to insist they cannot sign players due to being at the limit in terms of wiggle room on PSR.
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
A leading Hammers insider laid out the financial situation in fine detail to explain why that is the case after speculation West Ham do not have PSR problems.
Supporters have been growing increasingly frustrated at the club pleading poverty.
There have been calls for David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky to sell up to more ambitious owners.
West Ham fans launched a petition last month demanding Sullivan sell up. It currently has just under 4,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Having to sell players in order to be able to buy is not an unusual situation in the modern day game.
The likes of Newcastle and Aston Villa, who are far more ambitious than the Hammers, have been very reluctantly forced to sell top players despite having amongst the richest owners in the league.
Villa must bring in at least £30-50m through player sales by the end of June to comply with PSR, for example.
West Ham drop £100m bombshell
West Ham are planning to sell the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Nayef Aguerd and a host of others to raise funds for Potter’s much-needed rebuild.
As yet there have been no takers – and that has left Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay unable to bring in signings of their own.
The likes of journalist David Ornstein, football finance expert Kieran Maguire and The Athletic have cast doubt on the severity of West Ham’s PSR situation.
That has led to hope among fans that the club are taking a smoke and mirrors approach to the window so as not to be held to ransom over deals.
Now West Ham have dropped a £100m bombshell and made a new claim about Potter’s transfer funds.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
And Hammers fans who are already angry over the financial position may want to ensure they are sitting down.
One of the big reasons for the club citing PSR concerns is that it’s been claimed West Ham are braced for £80m losses in their next accounts.
West Ham also did a £69m deal with Barclays to borrow against – and spend – all transfer money owed to them last summer.
There have been reassurances that Potter will be given any money from sales to spend on his rebuild.
But when pushed on the summer budget situation by Hammers News, the response was gravely concerning.
It was put to West Ham’s board whether all money raised in sales this summer can be used for signings.
That’s when the Hammers hierarchy lifted the lid on some very worrying news.
Hammers make new claim about Potter’s transfer funds
Because Potter will not be able to spend all money raised due to the way accountancy works in PSR.
And West Ham state losses being forecast are far worse than previously predicted.
“The money raised from sales can be used, but only about 75 per cent,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News.
“It is to do with accountancy and how much we still owe on the player we are selling.
“Unfortunately our loss in the season just finished will be north of £100m, when the accounts are published at Christmas.”
If Kudus is used as a crude example then it means if the Ghanaian is sold for £60m this summer, Potter will only be able to use around £45m of that towards signings.
Although it must be remembered when making signings, West Ham will only need to have the money for the initial payment, with the rest spread over the contract term.
So £45m would still enable the Hammers to go out and sign several £20-30m players.
When the window “re-opens” on June 16th, West Ham just need to hope and pray for some rapid fire sales.