£1.5m bonus awaits outcome of Championship

The West Ham board will be taking a keen interest in the Championship game between 2nd placed Middlesbrough and 3rd placed Brighton this Saturday lunchtime.

One Claret and Blue team (Burnley) have already secured promotion to the Premier League with another Claret and Blue team (Aston Villa) swapping places with them after their relegation from the top flight.

However the second automatic promotion place worth over £200m is still up for grabs with both Boro and Brighton on 88 points.  West Ham are believed to have written a £1.5m promotion bonus clause into the contract for their sale of Stewart Downing, which would come our way should he help them achieve promotion. Middlesbrough need a draw or a win on Saturday as they have superior goal difference.

Downing joined West Ham in 2013 and made 69 Premier League appearances for the Hammers. The Hammers sold Downing for a fee believed to be £5.5m plus the £1.5m promotion clause which would take the total to £7m, he signed a four year deal with Boro dropping his wages to £35,000 per week which he will double to £70,000 per week on promotion back into the Premier League.