Free Agents & PWP For Irons

PWP? Players with potential, essentially youth players with future potential or mavericks who need 'converting'. Irrespective of the spin emanating from the London Stadium, it is clear for anyone to see that West Ham are broke, the club doesn't have a pot to p**s in.

So why are West Ham so broke and yet other teams are not? David Gold & David Sullivan are both wealthy men, ON PAPER, but their wealth is tied up in long term property portfolios and retail business outlets, neither of which can be liquefied easily without huge financial penalties. The Irons owners whilst relatively wealthy are complete paupers compared to the owners of say, Man City, Everton, Leicester City and others who DO have access to liquefied funding.

Every Barclays Premier League club begins the season with a business plan, with careful planning for acquisitions and player amortisation traded against income. Obviously the bulk of monies received by clubs is from TV broadcasting, but the rest comes from sponsorship and match day revenue.

As tenants of one of the three biggest stadiums in the league, West Ham should have been able to 'kick on' after moving from the club's much beloved Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium, but the Covid-19 pandemic has put the mockers on what should have been a tremendous time for the club, a renaissance leading to European involvement.

Well, the club achieved reaching European competition, for the first time in many fans' lifetimes, but the financial impact of the pandemic has hit the club harder than most, due to the reliance of the projected match day live income having to be completely written off!

It's not just West Ham, London's fourth placed team, Tottenham, are in an even worse position, their business plan for 'white shark lane' was entirely based and dependant on a round full year's revenue incorporating major league baseball etc. If Hammers have caught a clod, the Spurs have just caught pneumonia, and are desperately trying to avoid it becoming pleurisy!

Next season is going to be tough, fans will see other clubs having their 'Pellegrini' period and wonder why West Ham are not 'indulging' similarly, perhaps they should remember that in the height of Pellegrini's profligacies the press and just about everyone else were calling Hammers 'money bags West Ham! It is true, we kid you not, look back at the archives from that time and you will find that was the case.

It will take Hammers, under the full guidance of David Moyes, a full season to right some of the wrongs, and then maybe have a full run at the season without having to keep paying for past mistakes, so when it comes to 'exotic' signings we suggest that you don't hold your breath.

As far as we can see, the Irons biggest transfer concern should be retaining Declan Rice, at least for one more season, after that it will probably be impossible to keep him, UNLESS Hammers invest in strengthening the squad in order to move forward. -Ed