Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has given his thoughts on the future of one of West Ham United’s owners following some recent news coming out of the London Stadium.
It was revealed recently that Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has become a big player within the hierarchy of the east London club, as he purchased a 27% share of the Hammers worth around £180m-£200m, with The Athletic further noting that he “may eventually take a majority stake at a later date”.
The club’s main figures at the moment are David Sullivan and David Gold, who according to figures from Football.London, owned 51.1% and 35.1% stakes respectively before the deal.
Speaking on the latest edition of The Price Of Football podcast, Maguire discussed some of the technicalities of the deal before explaining what a move like this could eventually mean for the likes of Sullivan and Gold and how long they are likely to stick around at the London Stadium:
“Mr. Kretinsky has bought a minority stake in West Ham. And if people are wondering, ‘Why has he only bought 27%?’, it’s because under the arrangement that David Gold and David Sullivan have with the Greater London Authority, if they sell more than 30% of the club to anybody else, they then have to pay some of the profits back to the GLA on a sliding scale.
“So if West Ham fans are wondering, ‘Is this as far as it’s gonna go?’, well, that particular deal expires in 2023.
“Where this leaves David Gold and David Sullivan is a bit uncertain. I think David Gold’s share now drops to around about 10/15% on the back of this. I think perhaps he’s trying to look for an exit route, potentially, from the club.
“David Sullivan it’s less certain, because I know some of his children are involved with the football club, and they are West Ham-mad. So whether he wants to hand over a legacy to them is a bit uncertain.”
TIF Thoughts on Kieran Maguire’s comments about David Gold and David Sullivan at West Ham United…
Will Daniel Kretinsky become majority owner at the club in 2023?
Yes
No
A move like this could certainly lead to something further down the line, so it will be interesting to see what sort of implications this will have on the current owners. As Maguire hints at, it might not necessarily be an all-or-nothing situation with the two of them, as Gold might leave and Sullivan could stay depending on their own personal views.
It has certainly been a rough time for them at the club and some of their actions haven’t gone down well, such as the move to the London Stadium away from their former home of the Boleyn Ground.
But now things are looking a lot more promising under David Moyes and the club are doing very well in European football, so at least if they did decide to leave, they could say that the club is in a better place than when they took it on, and that might go some way to helping their own legacy in the eyes of the supporters.
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