Overnight news from bitter rivals Spurs is utterly depressing for West Ham and it only piles more pressure on David Sullivan, Karren Brady and the board at the London Stadium.
There may be no love lost between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur, but events off the pitch in north London this season have proved inspirational in the east of the city.
Hammers fans were hugely encouraged when Daniel Levy stepped down as Tottenham chairman earlier this month.
Spurs fans had been campaigning over many years for the removal of Levy, accusing him of holding the club back.
As one leading journalist put it following Tottenham’s easy 3-0 win over them at the London Stadium a couple of weeks ago, ‘imagine how West Ham fans feel then’.
Fed-up Hammers fans encouraged by Levy’s Spurs exit
Levy’s departure has given Hammers supporters hope their own activism against the board can get results.
The situations are different of course. Levy was chairman at Tottenham while David Sullivan – the primary target of protest action – is the majority owner of West Ham.
West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board issued a public vote of no confidence in their ownership not long after it was announced Levy was leaving Spurs.
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The aim of subsequent protests is to force Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady to leave or, at the very least, step aside and hire specialist professionals to make wholesale changes to the way the club is run.
A public spat between Sullivan’s fiancée and West Ham fans and the shambolic handling of the managerial situation – once again – means this time there may be no way back for relations in what the national press have labelled ‘civil war’.
A new power struggle has erupted at West Ham this week in which it has emerged the club’s second biggest stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky has come out of the shadows to make several demands amid chaotic scenes in east London.
A West Ham takeover appears to be the only real long-term solution to the situation.
Sullivan isn’t getting any younger at 77 and the Hammers have been the target of several bids since moving to the London Stadium in 2016.
In an official statement back in 2020, Sullivan confirmed he rejected a £650m bid from Red Bull for West Ham.
When rumours emerged yesterday that they were sniffing around Bristol City, it was claimed PSG’s Qatari owners saw an offer for West Ham snubbed in 2023.
Overnight news from Spurs is utterly depressing for West Ham
PSG’s Qatari owners were said to have held talks with Daniel Levy over investing in – or buying – Tottenham around that time too.
West Ham fans watched the rumours about the Qataris potentially investing in Bristol City wondering why not them.
Hammers supporters believe Sullivan and co are putting off potential West Ham takeover suitors with an over-inflated valuation of the club.
That is more than just a theory because, back in 2020, Brady’s personal website listed West Ham as being worth £800m.
Now overnight news from Spurs is utterly depressing for West Ham as pressure grows on the owners.
Reports from fellow Hammers site Claret and Hugh yesterday claimed Sullivan and Kretinsky are refusing to inject any more cash into the club, hence the use of payday loans to fund West Ham in recent years.
While no real surprise to fans, it has only deepened the resentment from the terraces towards the board.
Now Hammers fans can only sit and watch as Tottenham are the subject of a world record £4.5bn takeover bid from a US consortium.
It is claimed by the likes of The Sun that tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick is heading a 12-man group that has lodged the stunning offer for West Ham’s rivals while Sullivan and co cling on for dear life at the London Stadium.
Earick and his partners are reportedly offering £3.3bn to buy out the entire club from owners ENIC and the Lewis family.
World record Tottenham bid piles pressure on Hammers board
The next bit will truly pain Hammers supporters everywhere. Because the proposed new owners are then ready to set aside a further £1.2bn for the “player budget” inclusive of wages, fees and agent payments.
The money would be available for Thomas Frank to use from the opening of the January window.
The total package would be a world record takeover for a football club, exceeding the £4.25bn set by the Todd Boehly-led group that bought Chelsea in 2022.
Earick, who is 36 years Sullivan’s junior at 41, has assembled a consortium which includes NFL and NBA investors.
The news will have West Ham fans feeling very sorry for themselves and wondering when it will be their day in the sun.
It also ramps up the pressure on Sullivan and co to sell the club as it looks increasingly like there’s no way back from here.