Football finance expert and occasional contributor to Hammers Chat Kieran Maguire has given a concerning update on David Sullivan’s financial ineptitude in the running of West Ham United.
With the Hammers now preparing for life in the Championship, Maguire has painted a bleak picture of the club’s financial situation, suggesting relegation could expose problems which were already bubbling beneath the surface long before the drop became reality.
Speaking about West Ham’s current position, Maguire warned: “The wage bill is significant. The average wage is over £70k-a-week.”
That alone would be enough to concern most Championship clubs, but the finance expert believes the real issue lies elsewhere.
West Ham facing huge transfer repayment problem
Maguire believes the biggest concern surrounding West Ham is the amount still owed on transfers completed during the club’s recent Premier League spending spree.
“I think the thing that worries me most of all is that West Ham have spent a lot of money in the transfer market and they owe £196m in unpaid transfer fees as of the end of 2025,” he explained.
Those fees are not theoretical numbers buried somewhere in the accounts either.
“They have to be paid on a year-by-year basis and you do wonder where their cash is to pay them over the course of the next 12 months unless the owners put in some cash themselves.”
That is the bit which should probably alarm supporters most.
The club were already posting enormous losses while still receiving Premier League income, with Maguire pointing towards the sale of Declan Rice as the deal which temporarily papered over some of the financial cracks.
“Even when they were in the Premier League, they were losing £100m-a-year,” Maguire said.
“The sale of Declan Rice in 23/24 papered over the cracks to a certain extent as far as their compliance with PSR was concerned.”
Relegation leaves West Ham relying on ownership funding
Relegation now changes everything.
Maguire believes wage reduction clauses will soften the blow slightly, but warned the overall financial picture remains extremely worrying.
“If they’re losing £2m-a-week in the Premier League, then even if they’ve got wage savings and so on, it is going to be very challenging.”
He also referenced concerns over the club’s current banking arrangements and questioned how attractive West Ham would look to lenders in their current state.
“If you’re a bank manager, why would you lend to West Ham?” he asked.
“They do have an existing overdraft, but that’s due for repaying at the end of July this year.”
Sullivan and Kretinsky will need to put their own money into West Ham
Spotlight falling firmly onto ownership
Maguire acknowledged both Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky possess the wealth required to support the club financially if needed.
“I think the owners, and David Sullivan does have wealth, Daniel Kretinsky does have wealth,” he said.
“I guess they would have to be the main source of funding on top of player sales.”
And that final point probably tells us fans everything they we to know about what comes next.
West Ham still possess players coveted by Premier League clubs and sides across Europe, but this increasingly feels less like the promised rebuild and more like a financial reset forced upon the club by years of reckless spending and short-term thinking.
I’m not sure how these things work, but surely they need a share issue to raise funds and is there also an option to sell shares to supporters groups so that the fans own part of the club?
Sullivan and Brady have taken the fans for fools ever since they have been at the club now Brady has jumpt ship to get her name out of it also remember there track record at Birmingham and the stories what they got up to there