Kieran Maguire reveals real reason Karen Brady has doubled her West Ham salary as £180m deal done
Karen Brady has doubled her West Ham salary because of her “overall efforts” rather than for bringing Daniel Kretinsky to the negotiating table as the club have said.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest news from behind the scenes at the London Stadium.
Brady trousered £2.2million in 2021-22, per the Irons’ most recent set of annual accounts, with the club claiming that £1m of that figure was for her role in brokering Kretinsky’s November 2021 £180m deal to buy 27 per cent of the club.
But the Daily Mail reported last Monday (23 January) that the party line has been questioned by those in the know, who insist that Brady had little involvement in the Kretinsky arrangement.
Maguire, however, does not believe the vice-chairman’s pay increase comes as a major surprise.
“I don’t think this is necessarily a surprise,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“After all, David Sullivan and the recently-deceased David Gold both had their substantial loans repaid from the Kretinsky capital injection.
“So, while she may not have been significantly involved in the discussions, the nominal fee is more of a reward from the two Davids for her overall efforts as opposed to something specific to do with the deal itself.
“If you take a look at Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskia were rewarded for the Chelsea sale, estimates were around £30m to £50m.
“This doesn’t necessarily seem like a huge fee based on those numbers. In fact, it is about par for the course on a percentage basis.“
In other news, West Ham will accept Declan Rice summer bid after multiple offers submitted.