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West Ham United: Finance expert discusses reported takeover bids

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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been discussing the recently reported West Ham United takeover bids.

According to a report by The Sun on Monday night, a ‘mystery’ US-based consortium had seen a £350m offer for the Irons rejected by David Gold and David Sullivan in August.

On Wednesday morning, The Sun then ran another report claiming that the American consortium had upped their bid to £400m and it had again been rejected.

This second bid had reportedly been made at the end of August, however, Sullivan values the Hammers at ‘far higher‘ than what is currently on the table.

So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire shared his thoughts on the reported bids to purchase West Ham.

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General view inside the London Stadium ahead of West Ham v Norwich City

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He said: “All we know is that Gold and Sullivan have a fairly toxic relationship with the West Ham fanbase. If you go to Karren Brady’s website, they turned down an £800m offer some time ago.

“I suspect that they have been regretting that ever since, because what were they buying? Because you’re not buying [the] London Stadium, that’s owned by the council.

“So, it’s paper talk at present. There’s no doubt, I think, that they will sell for the right price. I think they’ve been a bit too starry-eyed in the past.

“Gold and Sullivan haven’t upped the standards of [things at West Ham] although they have spent money. I mean, again, it’s [a] classic case of spending money, but not spending money well.

“I believe one of the sons of the two owners, he’s now in charge of the women’s team or something of that nature, so, there’s a little too much nepotism. It’s not how football should be run in a professional environment.”

TIF Thoughts…

As can be seen in what the finance expert had to say, he claims that the supposed bids to take over the Hammers are just “paper talk” for the time being.

However, Maguire does admit that he believes that Gold and Sullivan “will sell for the right price”.

Do you believe that West Ham are worth more than £400m?

No, that's a fair price

No, that's a fair price

Yes, I would say so

Yes, I would say so

With The Sun having reported that Sullivan’s valuation of the Irons is far higher than the £400m that was put on the table by the US-based consortium, it would be interesting to know what the “right price” would be.

Perhaps that figure may emerge in the near future, though, as it is stated in the report that ‘there is hope a settlement can be agreed in the coming weeks’ regarding the sale of the Hammers.

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