Exciting News for West Ham as board confidant responds to new London Stadium sale claims
Almost a year to the day since it was reported West Ham are open to buying the London Stadium an exciting new claim has emerged.
And now a source close to West Ham’s owners has delivered a big update on the situation.
Many West Ham fans were – and remain – unhappy with aspects of the London Stadium since the big move to Stratford in 2016.
There are a number of reasons that is the case.
But the single biggest issue has always been the distance from the stands to the pitch.
Not to mention the fact West Ham no longer own their home ground.
The only way to fix the former is to resolve the latter.
New claim emerges about potential London Stadium sale
The issue with the gaps between the stands and the pitch can only realistically be addressed if West Ham get their hands on the stadium as owners.
This very week last year, Hammers source Sean Whetstone claimed the club is open to buying the former Olympic Stadium. But he revealed attempts to hold talks had fallen on deaf ears.
Speculation suddenly emerged on Thursday that the government could now look to offload the ground.
That understandably raised hopes the Hammers could purchase it.
Now West Ham board confidant Whetstone has responded to the exciting new London Stadium sale claims.
And he has poured cold water on the prospect. Whetstone says the reports are wide of the mark. And he pointed out it makes little financial sense for West Ham.
‘Buying stadium would make zero sense for Hammers’
“Reports that the Government could sell the London Stadium are wide of the mark,” Whetstone said on X.
“Onerous contracts (mean) the London Stadium (has) a nil book value as an asset and it would make zero financial sense for any business or West Ham to buy the stadium even for a nominal fee without a generous government subsidy attached.
“There is also a political angle on this subject and after sinking in almost one billion pounds of taxpayer’s money, no sensible politician is likely to sanction writing off that huge sum to sell off the public asset.
“Buying out onerous contracts from Delaware North, UK Athletics and West Ham United could cost up to a billion pounds on their own so are not a realistic option either.
“The only realistic option is having a long lease for the London Stadium where it remains a public asset in name but run and operated by a private business such as West Ham.
‘West Ham would need to think long and hard’
“West Ham would still need to think long and hard whether they would consider such a deal without a subsidy and give up their sweet £4m per year rental deal.”
Whetstone has made some very salient points.
The burning issue here into the future is that if the current or prospective new owners want to make that stadium an arena truly fit for football that is a source of pride for supporters then it simply has to be redeveloped.
And that ultimately will require it being purchased or controlled by West Ham.
Sadly it seems that is not something on the cards anytime soon.
West Ham currently have 91 years remaining on their lease.
