Such is the way of football: No sooner does one transfer window close than the speculation starts about the next one. Unfinished business, glaring gaps in squads and the sheer desperation of teams fighting for promotion or worse, avoiding relegation means that big money often changes hands in the winter.
West Ham’s recent transfer business in the last winter was been surprising: Not one, but two strikers arrived last year in the shape of Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, catching fans completely by surprise as the club splashed the best part of £50 million in a vain attempt to avoid the drop.
West Ham’s winter signings last year: Pablo and Castellanos cost nearly £50 million
The signs are there, though, that there’ll be no repeat this winter. Outstanding instalments falling due over the next few seasons for players the Hammers have already bought total a huge £190 million still to be paid to their selling clubs.
Which is unfortunate considering UEFA have just decided to speak out and warn about growing debt and the ‘ever increasing reliance on deferred payments’. (westhamworld.co.uk).
Will it signal an end to buying players on the ‘never-never’? : Unlikely.
The Championship is already financially unsustainable with clubs carrying £1.4 billion worth of debt in January of this year -before the Irons arrived to worsen the figures! (theesk.org).
However, West Ham are more than likely to stick to their policy established in the summer of selling players to pay down debt, so Alvarez, Magassa and co. may yet be used to reduce the club’s liabilities.
There seems a strong possibility that Irons will have to ‘make do and mend’ with a couple of loan signings and freebies in the winter, with ‘creativity’ being the order of the day rather than just pouring money in regardless.
Perhaps you’d call it ‘football sustainability’: That seems to be the direction of travel of this West Ham board for the time being.
No excuses for Kresinsky to drop that 90m now unless that was all bull after saying he never knew about Sullivans misdemeanours yet went into business again with him.
Can’t think where we have 190 million outstanding on previous purchases, surely selling clubs get at least a 30% upfront payment.
And of course if we owe a substantial amount on past players, they’ll also be a substantial amount owed to ourselves for sales
We made £190m in sales so even though payments will be staggered we should only be £30 m down which we will make in prize money and we have also massively reduced our wage bill.
Am not buying the poverty stories we are flush with spending capacity and we need to buy in January it picks up the teams energy to have quality additions joining and in this draining season that’s essential.
We have sold £200m worth of players too so there is a lot of money coming in over the next few years to pay down that £190m.
Give your head a wobble and then look at all sides of the non-problem.