EXCLUSIVE: West Ham have responded to a big new investment claim as the Premier League ruin hopes and dreams.
The Premier League’s “Big Six” is a term which seriously rankles with fans of clubs like West Ham.
It was created and perpetuated by the Premier League’s sycophantic main UK broadcast partner Sky Sports and the wider football media.
It has also given birth to a lesser talked about ‘Other 14’ – a group West Ham very much belongs to.
The Hammers and the rest of the ‘Other 14’ often feel like they’re in the shadow of – and treated differently to – the other six.
Just ask supporters of Everton, Forest and Leicester.
Indeed West Ham fans have often bemoaned that they have been hard done by regarding everything from fixture scheduling to VAR decisions compared to the “Big Six”.
West Ham are one of a handful of clubs who have been banging on – and knocking down – the door of the that group of teams in recent years.
The Hammers finished sixth and seventh and challenged the top six again last season.
Newcastle and Aston Villa have joined West Ham in trying to muscle in on the so-called “Big Six” too.
One way to help bridge the gap is to spend big and spend well in the transfer market.
Except that has become increasingly difficult due to the Premier League’s much-criticised profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Clubs are now having to tread very carefully and cut their cloth accordingly or risk points deductions and fines.
Report claimed West Ham are hunting new investment
Everton and Forest have been hit and Leicester will be too. Yet there has still be no action against the likes of Man City and Chelsea.
There have been rumours that West Ham are seeking new overseas investment to help them stay competitive with the leading clubs in the top flight.
This week it was claimed the Hammers are among several clubs seeking new investment to remain competitive at the top level.
The Sun’s Matt Hughes reported that West Ham are one of six Premier League clubs using advisers Rothschild and Co to bring in fresh funds in order to strengthen the squad without breaching PSR.
Spurs, Wolves and Brentford are also using them it is claimed.
That confused some supporters given West Ham are on course to announce record turnover topping £360m.
So Hammers News has reached out to the top spokesman inside the club for some clarity.
And fans will not like what they hear.
West Ham respond to claim as Premier League ruin hopes
Because West Ham have responded to the new investment claim as the Premier League ruin hopes.
The senior London Stadium source has refuted the claim and says there’s no point because West Ham can’t use the money anyway.
“It’s not true that Karren has enlisted Rothschild and Co to help find new investment for West Ham,” the top source at West Ham exclusively told Hammers News.
“Even if you get new investment, under the new rule of wages-to-turnover – and wages INCLUDES amortisation of transfers – you can’t use the money!”
The PSR structure is looking more and more what fans of the Other 14 have always suspected it to be – a closed shop.
How can the likes of West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa expect to try and challenge the elite if they can’t spend if their owners want to show ambition.
Is it any wonder that Aston Villa’s owner is ready to sue the Premier League over PSR, claiming it is anti-competitive?
Villa’s billionaire co-owner Nassef Sawiris blasted ‘anti-competitive’ spending rules he believes are blocking his club’s progress.
PSR rules anti-competitive for Hammers and co
Now, as confirmed by the top source inside the club, West Ham are not even seeking out investment given the PSR situation.
That may explain why there has not been any new investors at the London Stadium despite the Gold family’s shares, or at least a portion of them, being up for sale since last October.
Sawiris made some salient points when he spoke to The Financial Times about potentially suing the Premier League.
“Some of the rules have actually resulted in cementing the status quo more than creating upward mobility and fluidity in the sport,” he said.
“The rules do not make sense and are not good for football. Managing a sports team has become more like being a treasurer or a bean counter rather than looking at what your team needs.
“It’s more about creating paper profits, not real profits. It becomes a financial game, not a sporting game.’ He added that PSR rules were ‘opaque and… seemingly arbitrary.”
