Following reports on CandH of West Ham‘s attempts to sign a number of Juventus players recently, and then being told that the bid is not enough shows that the Italian giants are somewhat cash strapped.
This would explain why the club are continually offering their players to West Ham for over inflated values. The last few days have seen the Hammers linked with Matias Soule, Filip Kostić and Arthur Melo with Juve desperate for any kind of transfer.
To put it all into perspective, the club reported a staggering €95.1 million net loss in the first half of the 2023-24 fiscal year. This figure marks a sharp increase compared to the €29.5 million loss recorded in the same period last year.
The primary culprit behind this financial strain is the club’s ban from European competitions due to a financial irregularities scandal that erupted in late 2022. This ban has significantly impacted Juventus’ revenue stream, with a nearly 26% decline to €173.3 million recorded between July and December 2023.
In an attempt to stabilise their finances, Juventus has announced a €200 million capital increase. This initiative, launched last month was backed by the Agnelli family, the club’s majority shareholder. The Agnellis have already committed to covering their proportional share and will act as guarantors for the remaining amount.
The financial repercussions of the accounting scandal extend beyond the European ban. Juventus has now reported consecutive years of losses, with their cumulative losses exceeding a staggering €700 million over the past six years. The club’s last reported net profit came in the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
Juventus’ path to financial recovery appears challenging. While the capital increase provides some temporary relief, the absence of revenue from European competitions remains a significant hurdle.
Whether or not they will continue to play hardball in their transfer negotiations is another matter. West Ham’s interest in some of their players and their need for funds could work in our favour if we remain patient.
Spot on Phil so happy moyes has been sacked at last. Dreadful coach that lost millions on our sales and buys and nearly relegated us like he did with sunderland. Arrogant narcistic person and just as useless as a BBC pundit .
Guaranteed , there’s always another player . Steidten can buy cheap and sell high for Westham . Under Moyes , 100’s of millions were wasted on unsuitable players ( Scamacca , Ings , Aguerd , Benrahma ) or useless players ( Phillips , Vlasic ) or broken players ( Zouma , Cornet ) . Let’s hope that Lopetegui can properly use the players provided by Steidten and the home grown academy players .
Or, we could lose out to someone else by not offering enough. These are the perils of brinkmanship.