West Ham United shareholders may be forced to consider positions this year
Relegation to the Championship would “force” West Ham United shareholders to reconsider their positions at the club, according to The Athletic.
Daniel Kretinsky has the option to buy shares held by David Sullivan and the family of the late David Gold at a set price, however, this could be put in jeopardy.
West Ham currently sit in 16th place in the Premier League table but are only a point away from being dragged back into the dreaded drop zone.
“West Ham’s most recent set of accounts showed a pre-tax profit of £12.3million to underline their success of last season, but one imponderable would be the ownership structure,” as quoted by The Athletic. (10 March)
“Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire, has the option to buy shares held by David Sullivan and the late David Gold at a set price. Relegation would force all shareholders to consider their positions.”
Grave warning.
Relegation is never helpful for any Premier League team but it seems like it would hit West Ham in a worse way than most this season.
Board reshuffles and shareholder exits aren’t what you want when the club are going through a crisis and it’s the furthest scenario from stability.
The pre-tax profit of £12.3m from last season’s success would all go to waste as would the talented squad that has been assembled from it.
Declan Rice, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Gianluca Scamacca would all be up for grabs if the Hammers suffered a grim drop down a division.
It was an unlikely prospect when you consider West Ham spent £160m this summer, although, it’s one that’s becoming more of a reality as the Premier League weeks pass by.
A record-breaking summer transfer window filled with hope, followed by a dire and poor season to forget, things need to change at the London Stadium and fast.