West Ham chaos: ExWHUEmployee reacts to Sullivan-Kretinsky bust-up rumours. West Ham’s ownership structure has been chaos for years, and there appears to be no sign of stability any time soon.
The former ownership pairing saw David Gold and David Sullivan run the club in a fairly amateurish way at times, but there was hope for a takeover in 2021.
Daniel Kretinsky bought 27% of the club’s shares in November 2021, and there was hope that this may have led to an eventual takeover for West Ham to move in a different direction.
However, recent rumours pointed towards a fallout between Kretinsky and Sullivan, which could have even led to the Czech shareholder selling his shares, but this no longer appears to be the case.
Daniel Kretinsky does not intend to sell West Ham shares
West Ham insider ExWHUEmployee has now revealed that despite recent rumours, Kretinsky does not currently intend to sell his shares.
“There have been some noises in the media that Daniel Kretinsky is looking to sell his shares, however I understand that is not the case – neither is the talks of a falling out with David Sullivan,” he told The West Ham Way podcast.
“As far as we know at the moment, their relationship is fine and Kretinsky has no plans to sell his shares in the club. It’s in fact more likely he’d increase his stake rather than reduce it.”
“While Daniel Kretinsky is a major shareholder, its felt his interest is more in terms of investment and financial, rather than a hands on owner who is involved in the day-to-day.
“He has just acquired Royal Mail, so West Ham are a business as part of his portfolio.”
This will come as welcome news for West Ham fans, but questions still remain about the long-term ownership structure.
Daniel Kretinsky an ‘investor’ rather than ‘owner’
Even if Kretinsky does eventually increase his shares in the club, all indications point towards him not being interested in a hands-on approach at West Ham.
The Czech businessman appears more keen to treat West Ham as an investment, and hire specialists for the day-to-day running of the club, rather than trying to interfere himself.
This is a welcome change from the previous approach of Gold and Sullivan, who would get personally involved in transfers to the detriment of the club.
One such example was when West Ham tried to sign William Carvalho from Sporting Club De Portugal in 2017, but Gold and Sullivan’s timing meant a deal could not be completed.
Sporting’s President then labelled Sullivan a “parasite,” and an embarrassing war of words began.
If Kretinsky is keen on increasing his share, then many would prefer his approach, which could lead to smarter decisions to benefitthe club from the top down.
