Palace Spend, West Ham Bank – A Chasm Opens in the Relegation Fight
Crystal Palace showed West Ham how serious they were about avoiding relegation with a net spend of £63m whilst the Hammers were one of only three clubs to actually make money.
At this point, hardly any West Ham fans will be surprised to discover that at a moment when the club needed to spend their way to safety, they instead chose to stick rather than twist. It now seems David Sullivan isn’t even pretending anymore, with West Ham neither spending to remain in the Premier League nor properly preparing for life in the Championship.
The official figures for the winter window make for grim reading. Palace top the table with a £63m net spend. Manchester City weren’t far behind at £56.5m. Even clubs like Fulham, Sunderland and Brentford backed themselves. Meanwhile, West Ham sat near the bottom, recording a net profit of £6.8m.
A Board Pulling the Handbrake
That number tells its own story. In a relegation scrap, West Ham chose to bank cash rather than invest it. Bournemouth and Wolves both went further, posting significant profits while still attempting to reshape their squads. But unlike West Ham, Wolves have at least shown signs of planning and direction for next season.
The Hammers, by contrast, appear paralysed.
Having sold Lucas Paquetá and Luis Guilherme for the best part of £50m, a clear decision seems to have been made by the board not to reinvest that money back into the squad. That choice speaks volumes. This is no longer about prudence or sustainability. It is the strongest indication yet that the current ownership are either unable or unwilling to fund the club properly.
When rivals are gambling to stay up and West Ham are counting pennies, the gap in ambition becomes impossible to ignore. Survival is being treated as optional.
This window may ultimately be remembered as the moment the mask slipped. Not because West Ham failed to sign enough players — but because they didn’t even try.
| Club | Net spend (Winter 2026) |
|---|---|
| C. Palace | £63m |
| Man City | £56.5m |
| Fulham | £25m |
| Sunderland | £23.9m |
| Spurs | £12m |
| Brentford | £8.7m |
| Aston Villa | £6.6m |
| N. Forest | £1.6m |
| Brighton | £200k |
| West Ham | −£6.8m |
| Bournemouth | −£20.7m |
| Wolves | −£39m |
Simpley ASSET STRIPPING’ ! Resigned to the drop and being finally forced out, they are gathering every penny they can! Even the ladies team is being shredded, because they’re getting relegated as well! 🤬🤬⚒️⚒️
An underwhelming table which invites any scrutiny but delivers nothing of note. Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham look to be the big winners here. Maybe the table is the wrong way up.
So we let 10 go players who were not contributing to our survival battle and brought in four that will help. Our forward options have definitely improved, our defensive options are slightly better. We should have brought in another CB but I doubt there were many decent players willing to come in, given our league position.
The standing joke of every West Ham transfer window has always been the pathetic “We tried” after another dismal failure to secure decent signings, except this time they didn’t even bother to do that. Our club is so shambolic it’s laughable.
Well said, Sue – Sullivan and his fellow cretins have no respect for the fan base.
The fans own the club, not the Idiot owners who are just custodians but still have managed to rip the Heart and Soul from our club.
Irrespective of whether we stay up or go down, I hope the fans stay away next season if these parasites are still “running” the club. Don’t give them one Penny of your hard earned cash.
I think a lot of fans have called time until removal of Sullivan and his cronies!
If the owners didn’t reinvest the money from the 2 sales you mention how did they pay for Tatty and Pablo?
Gonzo, they aren’t worried about the club, just lining their pockets. It won’t change until Sulivan has gone. I’m actually surprised we got the loan signing from Chelsea, but then I think the Tolebo ban brought that about
Sulivan is the worst closely followed by Brady and Kritinski. All they care about is their bank balance, no interest in the club or fans. If we do get relegated not sure they can keep milking us dry as there will be nothing left. The sooner they all go the better. I have always hated Sullivan he is a horrendous classless individual. If we stay up or drop I don’t think I will renew my season ticket and I won’t be alone. I’m fed up with these fools that run us.
Palace spent £48m on a player who has scored 1 goal this season. Sorry, no.
I mean, just look at that photo of the cheapskate charlatan sat next to his fiancée.
What more needs to be said? This club’s a laughingstock, and there’s a real danger that we could plunge to lows that we’ve never reached before.
Owners just do not know how to run a club
This is a game to them
Putting out that we were showing interest in Duran, that is the biggest laugh I have ever had
They just try and fill the fans with hope but we all know their game now, they are complete dreamers and need to sell to some one who want to move this club on to big times.
They did have a massive support but have slowly loosed the huge following.
I will always be a fan and just hope that better times will come again to my great club
All the transfer window was laughable yet again trying to get the most needed players in in the last 7 hours,complete joke by the Jokers which run our club