‘West Ham backing Graham Potter in January’ after club record smashed
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted West Ham have the capacity to back new boss Graham Potter this month after recording club-record turnover.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 67-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested big spending will wait until the summer with the Irons not in danger of relegation.
West Ham published their accounts for 2023-24 last month (30 December), revealing their turnover rose from £236.7million in 2022-23 to a club-record £269.8million.
The club also managed to go from making a £17.1million loss in 2022-23 to last season recording a £57.2million net profit, which was largely driven by the club-record sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal in July 2023.
Potter has replaced Julen Lopetegui in the hot seat at the London Stadium, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Irons.
West Ham tipped to make striker signing this month
Wyness suggested West Ham will prioritise a striker signing before the 3 February transfer deadline.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “There’s still the Declan Rice money and West Ham did well in European football as well.
“They’ve had very good financial results, and they’ve got some room to spend – even with the business they did in the summer.
“Not all the signings have paid off, and they’ve also had the Antonio accident – which was a very unfortunate situation.
“I think they’ll be looking up front more than anything else.
“There is room at West Ham to do something, but they’re going to be safe.
“The temptation may be not to spend big, but just to make sure they’ve got options to support the squad.
“They’ll probably look to spend more in the summer.
“With the new manager in place, I’d expect them to spend more in the summer. They’re not in any imminent threat of slipping down the table right now.”
In other news, Irons set sights on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall deal – insider.
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