West Ham courtroom twist: ‘This is the deal of the century’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted West Ham have “run rings” around the London Stadium’s owners after a new twist in court.
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 – insisted the Irons’ deal to rent the former Olympic Stadium is “the deal of the century”.
The publicly-owned London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) were forced to pay back £3.6million to West Ham after losing a High Court case against Graham Potter‘s side this month.
£6.5million was originally paid to LLDC in early 2023 after an increase in value of the club following Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s investment.
It was ruled that the expert determination ordering the Irons to pay the money contained two “manifest errors”.
The Premier League club pay £4.7 million per year for the stadium and do not contribute to maintenance – with that lease set to run for 88 more years.
West Ham ‘deal of the century’ just gets better, says Wyness
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “It’s good news.
“This just shows what a terrible deal the London Legacy Corporation did.
“It’s been called the deal of the century, and I think it is.
“They’re paying £2.5million a year as a tenant in that stadium, it’s incredible.
“The Legacy Corporation thought they had a contract which entitled them to big profit on the sales of any shares, but they’ve got it wrong.
“West Ham have won the appeal.
“It just goes to show what a disaster it was, but we are where we are.
“If Kretinsky wanted to sell up soon, then they’d now be left without any share of that deal. West Ham have run rings around them.
“It’s good news for David Sullivan and Karren Brady. It’s such a good deal for the club.”
In other news, “West Ham now favourites to complete Evan Ferguson deal”.
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