West Ham United should be flush for cash this summer for a number of reasons… but will the club spend it to push the club on.
West Ham United co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold
When the Hammers moved from their beloved Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium, co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold promised big ‘marquee’ signings.
In reality as one West Ham famously told a talkSPORT radio phone in earlier this season, ‘We got Simone Zaza and some scaffolding’.
Not all of last summer’s recruitment was bad, though.
Edimilson Fernandes looks a steal at just £5 million while Andre Ayew may yet prove to be good business at £20.5m given the crazy inflation in prices for even the most average of players.
Jose Fonte arrived in January along with Robert Snodgrass and already look solid additions to the squad.
But with star man Dimitri Payet forcing a move back to Marseille in January there is no doubt the Hammers have taken a step back this season.
And their recruitment this summer is vital if they are to truly compete for the top six in what will be a 66,000 seater stadium next term.
Many supporters are sceptical over the intentions of co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold.
Indeed many believe their bluster about “£35m marquee striker signings” was a ploy to sell season tickets.
If it was, it worked – or certainly helped – as West Ham sold 52,000 season tickets, second only to Manchester United.
Simone Zaza has left the club
With Zaza’s loan cancelled before the £25m obligation to buy clause was activated West Ham never ended up signing that “marquee” striker.
James Tomkins and Payet have been sold for a combined £35 million while the Hammers announced record income in their annual accounts last week off the back of the ever-increasing TV deal.
The extra ticket revenue, commercial and merchandising revenue streams has seen the club enter the prestigious European Deloitte Football Money League Top 20 for the first time, as proudly paraded on its official website back in January.
So with all that in mind, plus the money that would have been made available anyway for the summer, Slaven Bilic should expect no less than a £100m warchest to start playing catch-up on the top six.
Yes the club still carries historic debt – which club doesn’t nowadays – but that was never held up as an issue by the owners when persuading fans to make the move to Stratford so why should it become one now they are flush with cash.
Time to spend if Hammers are serious about competing
Whether Sullivan and Gold sanction that kind of unprecedented spending remains to be seen.
One thing is for certain, though, for the first time Hammers fans are truly expectant.
Supporters were reluctant to leave Upton Park and many did so on the promise it would allow them to compete with the Premier League elite in terms of finances, in the transfer market and for success.
The club has in many ways sold its soul in pursuit of success and fans will not settle for empty promises any longer, Sullivan and Gold will have to deliver.
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