Finance Expert reacts to FFP worries at West Ham United in January transfer window
We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive West Ham United columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium...
Dan Plumley has insisted that the timing of the sale of Declan Rice will be key to any Financial Fair Play worries at West Ham United in January.
A quiet winter transfer window was always expected at the London Stadium because of FFP, despite the £105million sale of Rice to Arsenal last summer.
The finance expert admitted that all transfers are done in instalments, meaning the cash was never straight into the bank of West Ham, meaning they simply have to balance their accounts with the rules.
“It’s the timing of the sale,” he exclusively told West Ham Zone.
“As we know in the modern-day transfer market, you don’t get all of that money upfront, it’s paid in instalments and you have to budget against those instalments.
“It’s one thing to say the club have made a significant transfer out in Declan Rice, but it’s not like they had £105million in the bank the next day, you have to balance that with how the transaction is booked, the date it is booked and how that links to your bigger FFP picture.
“More wider, I think there is the league itself, there are a lot of clubs in that mix and now, what has happened to Everton, they will be more cautious of FFP and how they are spending, and in January, it tends to be a quieter window anyway and you have those overarching factors into the mix there across the league itself, but a lot of the time, even if you’ve sold a player, it’s unlikely you have that money in the bank account the next day to spend.
“You have to balance that offer with where it falls and how it looks in the accounts and how that contributes towards FFP.”
In other West Ham news, Lucy Ward has told the Hammers what they need in the transfer market.
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