Czech billionaire investor Daniel Kretinsky completed a deal to buy 27% of West Ham United earlier this week, which now promises more investment into the club.
Kretinsky joins the Hammers board along with colleague Pavel Horsky.
West Ham’s new board member is also the owner of top-flight Czech club Sparta Prague, which will increase the club’s connections with Czech supporters and players after already establishing a good relationship thanks to the signings of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague.
His investment and commitment to the club’s finances has helped West Ham jump the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in having the richest owners, and now the Hammers have a good platform to invest more funds in the transfer market.
Not only will this deal help pay off the club’s £150million debt, but should now also give manager David Moyes a bigger budget going forward.
What supporters are most happy about, is the fact that there is now another member of the board who has to agree to future decisions, which removes some of the power from the likes of David Sullivan, who does remain the majority shareholder.
While January is the first opportunity the Hammers can spend big in the transfer market, courtesy of this new deal, it is unlikely that the club will break the bank to sign players straight away.
However, we can expect a few signings to be made to strengthen the squad, with a striker and defender in mind. Michail Antonio remains as the squad’s only striker and first-team centre back Angelo Ogbonna suffered an ACL injury last weekend.
After West Ham’s excellent start to the season and emphatic displays on the pitch, this will only add to supporters’ excitement. The new year promises lots of possibilities for the Hammers and this latest deal is just further evidence that there are some promising times ahead in east London.
