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West Ham set their eyes on Dutch defender on a free transfer
Last night, reports were made that the Hammers would be signing a free agent, and it was believed to be a defender - many came to the conclusion that the individual in question was a former Brighton player, yet that didn’t quite narrow it down.
Brighton have three former players available on a free: Adam Webster, Solly March and Joël Veltman. The Hammers have opted for the third name, the 34-year-old Dutchman who can play centrally and also on the right.
Signing Joël Veltman on a free will now pave the way for Kyle Walker-Peters to be the starting right-back in Nuno’s side, and it will also allow Aaron Wan-Bissaka to leave, who has been forcing a move away from West Ham and has made it clear to Nuno that he does not want to play in the Championship.
Nuno will expect to complete the signing of Joel Veltman in the coming days and will now allow the sale of AWB.
West Ham are still going to sign another central defender, with the two names most likely being Dylan Lawlor from Cardiff City and Axel Disasi, for whom the Hammers are waiting for the green light from the Frenchman.
Joël Veltman played 191 games for Brighton, including 24 last season in the Premier League.
Kretinsky creates a game of ‘Chess Ownership’
West Ham’s ownership conundrum takes another twist! Daniel Kretinsky this morning has announced that he has sold 2.2% of his stake to fellow Czech billionaire Jakub Havrlant, as he is set to buy the Gold family’s stake in full without surpassing the 50% rule, meaning he wouldn’t trigger the shareholders’ agreement clause, which was formed in 2021 and would’ve forced him to buy Sullivan’s 38.8% stake at an inflated price.
In doing this, Kretinsky has now gambled that he will be able to buy all of Gold’s family holdings without David Sullivan’s intervention, as he’s under the assumption that the Independent Football Regulator will step in and reject any increase Sullivan attempts to make.
Here we go, here’s where the difficulty starts!
Kretinsky’s sale of 2.2% will have to be offered to the existing shareholders due to pre-emptive rights, so David Sullivan, Vanessa Gold, Tripp Smith, Terry Brown and Daniel Harris would have first refusal in round one of the process. If no existing shareholder buys the 2.2% in 30 days of round one, there’s no round two, and that’s where Harvlant would be free to buy the 2.2% in question.
For the other chess game, which has Gold’s stake up for grabs - In a world where Daniel Kretinsky bought his maximum entitled amount (9%) and is the only shareholder to do this in round one, he would then technically be the only person available to purchase any stake in round two, which would offer the remaining stake (16.1%) up for grabs, meaning he would then take his total overall shareholding to 49.9%
The 49.9% means that he doesn’t trigger the inflated clause to buy David Sullivan’s shares but would still have majority control as he and his Czech friend would own 50.1% of West Ham together.
In this scenario, which is the most likely to happen, it would completely shut Amanda Staveley out from her Gold shares offer.
Buying David Sullivan’s shares is a dead end for her, as it wouldn’t be possible to gain a majority shareholding through Sullivan, and if she were to offer to buy Sullivan’s shares, which could theoretically launch the foundation of a possible hostile takeover for the club entierly, the offer she puts to Sullivan would allow Kretinsky to have matching rights, and the offer she would provide Sullivan would almost certainly be a lot less than the clause he would trigger by owning 50% of the club.
Kretinsky is officially playing Staveley at her own game, and with this Czech plan, it’s almost inevitable that Amanda Staveley will NOT be investing in West Ham.
Troy Parrot
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Any truth in the rumours????
West Ham Reevaluate Winger Target Due To Fan Criticism
West Ham United have been seeking a replacement for Crysencio Summerville, who recently departed to Al-Hilal for an astonishing £55,000,000. Despite the funds amassed, the Hammers are taking their time to decide which left-sided winger they would like to pursue and aren’t letting themselves be dragged in and pay a fortune.
Two backup winger targets the Hammers have laid eyes on are Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson and Sunderland’s Simon Adingra. These wingers will be the alternatives to our primary and controversial target, Manor Solomon from Tottenham Hotspur.
After the rumours were released about West Ham’s interest in Manor Solomon, outrage sparked amongst East End fans due to the winger’s Israeli heritage and comments he had previously made in the past.
With the outrage amongst fans, West Ham have had to reevaluate whether to pursue the Spurs winger and currently aren’t sure, as they’re confident in his playing ability but are worried West Ham fans won’t be in full support of the signing.
This isn’t the first time this has happened! West Ham fans’ criticism of former target Elye Wahi and his disappointing actions off the pitch sparked outrage, and subsequently the Hammers moved on elsewhere.
West Ham are comfortable spending upwards of £25m for an individual, but they have to find their perfect wingman!
The club will persist with Manor Solomon, but if they change their minds, it will be Adingra and Nelson where our attention lies next.
Replica prices
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Grandkids want replica shirt young lad at work told me to look at this site if buying a shirt so now to all you old farts on here if it helps with the young ones in your families getting a shirt the sites name is okjersey.com and to say they are reasonable is no lie.
West Ham Confirm Amanda Staveley's Purchase of Vanessa Gold's Shares
West Ham United have confirmed that Amanda Staveley has provisionally purchased Vanessa Gold's 25.1% stake.
The standard procedure will now be followed however, a few difficulties could potentially arise. At the moment, all seems amicable on the surface between Kretinsky & Amanda, but difficulties could arise in the following 60 days. Should everything be smooth sailing, this would be a significant step to remove David Sullivan, as Amanda has her eyes on a full takeover, but a bumpy road could still pop up should Daniel Kretinsky follow through with his initial idea to buy Vanessa Gold's stake.
Time will tell! Here's the following statement from West Ham:
West Ham United can confirm it is aware of the announcement from Joint-Chair Vanessa Gold that she has reached a provisional agreement to sell her shares to a consortium of PCP Capital Partners, led by Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, in partnership with Ashland Forest Capital Partners.
The proposed transaction will now be subject to a pre-emption rights process. This provides all existing shareholders with the opportunity to acquire their proportional percentage of shares in round one, and any remaining shares in round two. This process will take approximately two months and, until it is completed, nothing will change regarding the ownership structure of the Club.
West Ham United would like to assure supporters that the day-to-day running of the football club is in no way affected by this situation. Preparations for the new season continue to take shape with diligence and focus, and we thank all fans for their continued loyal backing at this time.
The Club will be making no further comment while the pre-emption process runs its course.
Magdeburg vs West Ham Line-ups
West Ham: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles, Kante, Orford, Lamadrid, Bowen (C), Taty, Pablo
Subs: Areolam Herrick, Ward-Prowse, Diouf, Cornet, Magassa, Potts, Earthy, Casey, Mayers, Ajala, Golambeckis
Freddie Potts Set To Leave West Ham United
Despite his family holding a reign and tradition in East London, it appears a decision has concluded the end of this spell, West Ham are set to sell the youngster for £10,000,000 to Club Brugge.
Club Brugge were happy to purchase the Englishman for €12m after losing their star and former West Ham target, Raphael Onyedika.
West Ham had been open to entertaining offers for quite a while, and the £10m fee is sufficient for West Ham to bite and subsequently sell.
With the Hammers already having limited options in the midfield before the sale of Potts, it begs a question when are signings going to happen because all West Ham can do is sell - though, this is what happens when you’re relegated - asset stripped.
Freddie Potts has already proven himself in the Championship with a loan stint at Portsmouth and with West Ham already suffering a blow with Tomas Soucek’s injury, it raises a concern as to whether Nuno will even have enough options come the start of the season.
Ownership Twist - What Does It Mean?
After lurking rumours in the background for a long time, it has finally been announced that Amanda Staveley is stepping up her interest in buying a 25% stake in West Ham with the ambition for a full takeover when possible.
As time has passed, it has become evident that Daniel Kretinsky would like to remain as a minority shareholder, but would like enough to currently have control, providing him with the highest stake, allowing him to have control over certain issues, rather than seeing other shareholders, David Sullivan, run the club into the ground.
David Sullivan has refused to sell his stake in the club until the Hammers return to the Premier League, meaning Amanda is looking to buy out the Gold family entirely…. Which raises questions about what’s happening to the deal Kretinsky initially set out to have?
Whilst there is no direct answer to the question, there is indeed another possibility. Should Daniel Kretinsky have gotten approval for this deal, which isn’t yet publicly known, and he invested £90m into the club, which also isn’t yet publicly known, it means that David Sullivan would’ve had to match Kretinsky otherwise he would forfeit 9-10% of his stake, which would go to Kretinsky automatically - that is a possibility, but also a theoretical view.
The other alternative is that Daniel Kretinsky retains his 27% stake and he works alongside Amanda with her seemingly imminent 25% stake, and the pair work together until more shares are available and Amanda Steveley officially buys out Sullivan entirely, which she has intended in her plans.
A confusing dynamic but one that could be hugely beneficial in the future. Once again, only time will tell for Hammers fans.
Another aspect to keep an eye on - one of the most recent bidders on the London Stadium is linked to Staveleys’ consortium… wishful thinking but there’s no harm in feasting on hope.
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