West Ham owners to bankroll injection as ‘big’ issue emerges – Stefan Borson
West Ham have a “big issue” as their owners will need to keep putting money into the club to pay the bills at the London Stadium.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the East Londoners are also likely to be down on their expectations for the season as they currently sit 14th in the Premier League table.
West Ham published their accounts for 2023-24 on 30 December, revealing their turnover rose from £236.7million in 2022-23 to a club-record £269.8million.
That was driven by their improved position in the Premier League, having finished ninth in David Moyes’s last season at the London Stadium, as well as higher European income and a £19.4million increase in broadcast revenue to £167million.
West Ham’s matchday revenue grew by £3.7million to £44.6million, while their commercial income was £6.8million higher than 2022-23 at £41.9million.
The London side 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 £105million sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal in July 2023.
But West Ham’s wage bill surged from £136.9million to £161million, with their operating costs also increasing from £190.7million to £224million.
West Ham have cash issue after latest accounts revealed
Borson admitted the owners will need to continue pumping money into the club moving forward.
“The issue with West Ham is more of a cash issue,” Borson told Football Insider.
“Obviously, the Rice situation put them in a good position, but generally at the operating level, they are still not running at a profit.
“That’s the big issue, as with almost all of the clubs. But they do have some deep pockets around the table.
“They will continue to need money from the shareholders to be put in going forward.
“But overall, I thought they were a sound set of results and, from a PSR perspective, they have plenty of capacity to do things.
“I think they are probably quite significantly down on what their modelling would have said about their league position.
“They are lower mid-table at the moment. I am sure their model and their budget probably says they would be in the top 10, possibly in the top eight, so there is a bit of a deficit there.
“But they are generally well-placed financially and are well-run.”
In other news, West Ham will accept “huge Arsenal offer for Mohammed Kudus”.
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