Sullivan Declares West Ham Fire Sale Open!
New West Ham United owner David Sullivan has admitted that the club will have to cut wages by 25%, and sell some of the clubs prized assets, in a bid to keep the club afloat.
Sullivan and David Gold have recently released a document which claims that the club still has £15million worth of debt owed to other Premier League clubs, and it is believed that come the summer, the sale of Matthew Upson will be used to service this debt. Sullivan told sport.co.uk,
“If we can get a substantial sum for him then we’ve got to take it. Its business sense…He wants to have one last crack at the big time – Champions League football – and you can’t begrudge him that… He’s in his prime as a centre-half, but he is probably in his last four or five years and it’s not awful that he has to be sold.”
Sullivan admitted that the squad, which cost around £75million to assemble, is equipped with large contracts that the club can no longer sustain going forward, and the sale of players such as Upson will be necessary to ensure the club is able to rebuild this summer.
It is believed that Tottenham Hotspur have ended their interest in the player following the signing of Younes Kaboul, whilst the tussle over Eidur Gudjohnsen has strained relations between the club in any case. Arsenal is therefore believed to be his most likely destination this summer. Sullivan told Sky Sports,
“We’re hoping to stay up and deliver an improved team next season. Some players will have to come in, some will have to go.”
Sullivan has warned that it would be “Armageddon” if the club were to be relegated this season, and staying in the Premier League is an imperative for the club, especially as there will be no parachute payment for relegated clubs this term. However, if West Ham can secure their Premier League status, then Sullivan told Sky Sports,
“By the fourth year, maybe we can start to look forward”.
West Ham fans should have cause for some optimism. Despite Sullivan and Gold’s obligatory claims that by coming to West Ham they’re ‘coming home’, and other such overdone PR routines, West Ham just have to look at Birmingham City to see where their club could be headed with Sullivan and Gold at the helm.
Birmingham are one of the few clubs in the Premier League with little or no debt, and when Carson Yeung took at Birmingham in October, his money could be put straight into the transfer kitty, rather than servicing an outlandish debt.
West Ham is finally in good hands with Sullivan and Gold, but following a 2-1 defeat to Burnley at the weekend, it appears that it may get even worse, before it gets better at Upton Park.
Point of order; West Ham United play at the Boleyn Ground, which is situated in Upton Park (the locale).
As for Upson being sold to service debts, you’re just making that up. The reason Upson will be sold, if he is sold at all, is that come the summer he will have 12 months left on his existing contract and has shown no intention of signing an extension. Nothing to do with relieving debts.
Point of order my bottom.
Upson will be sold and whilst West Ham are up to their chins in debt those monies will be used to service it.
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