Holly Turbutt
There has been an update following on from last week’s West Ham takeover reports, with a senior club source now stating that the rumours are untrue, and no takeover is being worked on behind the scenes.
Initially, Everton’s Former Chief, Keith Wyness, suggested that discussions would already be underway regarding a takeover, with an entirely new ownership team looking most likely.
This isn’t the first time reports have been published around the future of the club’s ownership, with Vanessa Gold announcing last year that her family were working with Rothschilds to potentially sell some of their shares of West Ham United. However, the sale of these shares has been unsuccessful to date, despite reports of various investors showing interest.
As it stands, all shareholders, Daniel Kretinsky, Vanessa Gold, David Sullivan, Terry Brown and Tripp Smith, all have first refusal if any shares are sold by a fellow shareholder.
We also know that Kretinsky has no interest in fully taking the club over, as he prefers to take a back seat and not get as involved with the running of the club, in a similar way to how he operates at Sparta Prague, where is is a 40% shareholder.
No West Ham takeover imminent
A club source has since announced that rumours of an imminent takeover being worked on behind the scenes is untrue. Instead, they have said that if and when the Gold family sell their shares, everyone has matching rights to their existing shareholder structure.
They also added that there are no discussions and it’s simply unsettling for the club, players and staff.
So there you have it – no West Ham takeover is imminent.
