- West Ham are 18th in the Premier League with three matches remaining
- The Hammers recently announced the departure of Karen Brady
- Christian Purslow believes that further hierarchy reshuffling will take place in the summer
In recent months, the scrutiny on West Ham’s ownership has heightened due to their on-field difficulties; Nuno Espirito Santo’s team are now third from the bottom in the Premier League table.
Following last weekend’s defeat away to Brentford, the Hammers are back in the relegation zone, one point behind Tottenham Hotspur, who occupy the final safety position, with three games to go.
All discourse on the remaining run-in has focused on the on-field matters, but the precarious position West Ham find themselves in undoubtedly boils down to the boardroom. The club’s current hierarchy has seen a shift in recent weeks amid relegation fears, but former Premier League club chief executive officer believes that regardless of the end-of-season status, the ownership will have questions to answer.
Christian Purslow details current West Ham ownership
Speaking on The Football Boardroom podcast alongside football journalist Henry Winter, Christian Purslow, who recently served as CEO of Aston Villa from 2018 to 2023, highlighted that West Ham’s dual ownership with majority shareholders, David Sullivan and Daniel Křetínský, is “very unusual.”
“You need accountability; you need to invest in your people. Management teams drive value creation, and there’s a glaring hole with Karen’s [Brady] departure, and there’s a glaring need given this very unusual power-sharing ownership structure.
“So, I would expect sitting here in April 2026, in the next few weeks leading into this huge summer… that there would be news coming out of West Ham on a permanent management structure.”
Since David Gold’s passing in 2023, there has been a struggle for control of West Ham, with departed vice-chairman Brady assisting in defending Sullivan’s interests after the arrival of Czech Křetínský.
In the meanwhile, discussions about buying some of Vanessa Gold’s shares to become equal partners in the London Stadium have taken place between co-owners Sullivan and Křetínský.
Purslow states that “Křetínský would want to see a top-class chief executive replace Brady to be the bridge between these two owners.” He adds, “Equally a top-class sporting director.”
West Ham’s current sporting director is former club captain Mark Noble, who was ushered into the role in 2023, while under-fire chief recruiter Tim Steidten departed his technical director role after two and a half years at the London Stadium following the arrival of then-manager Graham Potter.
Purslow also reveals that the Hammers’ recent lavish spending, with over £685 million spent on playing expenditure in the last four seasons combined with the club’s slip in the table, will mean the sale of current attractive assets.
“Whether West Ham stay up or go down, okay, this summer the club has a significant cash hole, a significant funding need, and that arises from the fact that they’ve been losing money; they have maxed out on the credit card,” the former Chelsea and Liverpool director said.
“Plan A for West Ham this summer is the sale of players to drive cash in to meet their existing liabilities even if they stay up.”
