Karren Brady has delivered a major West Ham takeover update after claims a US bid could be on the horizon, with the vice-chair making the club’s stance clear.
West Ham have been heavily linked with an American takeover all summer.
As far as a growing number of Hammers fans are concerned, it has become increasingly clear the club may need new owners if they are to get back to competing in the top half of the table.
Nothing has cemented that more than the vast chasm in spending and ambition between the Hammers and a host of their rivals this summer transfer window.
West Ham’s owners have been pleading poverty due to PSR restrictions.
Despite a gravely concerning regression over the last season-and-a-half – during which time the team has won just 15 of its 58 Premier League matches – West Ham have only signed four players this summer.
West Ham fans want ambitious new owners
Manager Graham Potter had promised an “exciting and interesting” window but his highly anticipated overhaul has been failed to transpire with only two of the four arrivals for the starting XI.
West Ham sold their homegrown captain and best player for a generation, Declan Rice, to rivals Arsenal.
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Now they have sold another of their top stars, Mohammed Kudus, to bitter rivals Spurs for a paltry £54.5m – just to bring some money in for signings.
Meanwhile rivals like Spurs and a host of others are spending big, threatening to put a big gap between them and struggling West Ham.
On paper West Ham have the third wealthiest owners in the Premier League.
The club is also among the 17 biggest earners in Europe and has the second biggest attendances in the country.
West Ham's second biggest stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky. Inset, Hammers majority owner David Sullivan.
West Ham’s second biggest stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky. Inset, Hammers majority owner David Sullivan. Credit: Getty Images/Joel Saget/Glyn Kirk/AFP.
Many supporters have been calling for main stakeholders David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky to sell West Ham to more ambitious owners.
There is even talk in West Ham fan circles after the opening day debacle at Sunderland, that protests could be back on the agenda in east London to try and force the issue.
Earlier this summer Hammers fans launched a petition demanding Sullivan and co sell up.
It currently has 6,500 signatures at the time of writing.
If Hammers fans think the financial situation is bad now, West Ham have confirmed they will be announcing £100m losses in their next accounts in December.
That’s why links to investment – and a potential takeover – from a US consortium had excited supporters over the summer.
West Ham confirmed early talks were held over a potential US bid.
Brady’s major West Ham takeover update after US bid claims
But one US party heavily tipped for investment in West Ham looked elsewhere when Guggenheim Partners instead agreed a deal to buy Udinese instead.
New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson was also linked with a stunning West Ham buy-in after the Gold family’s 25 per cent stake exited probate following the death of former co-owner David Gold and his daughter Jacqueline almost two years ago.
It was claimed banking insiders believe Johnson, a member of the founding family of Johnson and Johnson, could buy West Ham.
But he bought into Crystal Palace instead.
Other US consortium rumours have abound, with claims West Ham stakeholder Albert ‘Tripp’ Smith could front a move from the inside.
West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady watches on from the director's box at the London Stadium
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Now Karren Brady has delivered a major West Ham takeover update after the US bid claims.
Appearing on talkSPORT after the Sunderland shambles, Hammers vice-chair Brady was asked some difficult questions by host Henry Winter.
One was whether West Ham’s current owners could sell the club given the rumours this summer.
The response may go down like a lead balloon among supporters desperate for a change at the very top.
Because while Brady has confirmed the Gold family are still looking to sell, the rest are staying put.
Brady: Gold stake still for sale but Sullivan and Kretinsky staying
“No, I mean one of our shareholders is looking to sell,” Brady said.
“Unfortunately David Gold passed away and then (his daughter) Jacqueline passed away and the family are looking at what they should do with their shares and they’re very careful about what they are going to do.
“I mean we’re a London club, we have a 67,000 capacity stadium (once council safety certificate approval is granted), we would be very sought after.
“But no I’m very lucky, I’ve got good shareholders who believe in the club, who love the game, who want to do the best that they can and are very much staying.”
If, as Brady says, West Ham are such a big draw for potential investors or a buy-in, then why has nobody come forward to purchase the Gold shares nearly two years after they released an official statement announcing them for sale?
Why, after attempts from various parties, have West Ham and their London Stadium landlords struggled to find a firm willing to pay for naming rights at the second biggest ground in the country?
Something doesn’t quite add up.
And the prospect of relegation to the Championship is not going to make West Ham a more attractive proposition.