West Ham could get London Stadium for 'free' after Sadiq Khan update - Insider
West Ham could potentially claim ownership of their London Stadium home without paying a penny.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the losses from the stadium may result in the Greater London Authority offloading it for free.
This comes after recent reports that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan would welcome discussions over a deal with West Ham for the stadium.
Wyness believes that a change in ownership is likely to see the Hammers take up that option, and feels that an agreement to take over the ground's losses could potentially be enough.
Reports earlier this year suggested that the London Stadium is currently costing taxpayers £19million each year to run.
West Ham moved into the Stratford-based stadium back in 2016, and their supporters have had an unhappy relationship with it ever since.
West Ham stadium deal blocked by David Sullivan
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that West Ham's former vice-chair Karren Brady struck an excellent deal when the club agreed to move into the London Stadium.
However, he believes that the club may now effectively be being punished for the strength of that deal, with the authorities feeling that the Irons have benefitted significantly from the agreement.
With that in mind, Wyness explained on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast how he doesn't expect there to be a deal in terms of the stadium until David Sullivan's reign as owner ends.
"It's a separate company that was formed around the London Stadium, which I think is controlled by London Authority, they would obviously want to stop the losses," he said.
"Everybody's known that West Ham have had a sweetheart deal for so long and Karren Brady negotiated a very good deal. There's no doubt, she deserves full credit for that. However, it may have been too good.
"The sense was that they would never sell the stadium or give the stadium at a lower cost to the existing West Ham owners when it was Brady and Sullivan because they felt that they'd struck too good a deal.
"They've always signalled that a new owner coming in, i.e. (Daniel) Kretinsky, would be able to negotiate a deal on the stadium. I don't know why they wouldn't just say it's zero and you now take over the losses."
West Ham seal last-minute left-back deal
Former Hammers scout Mick Brown told Football Insider on Tuesday that a new left-back was a must for his former club ahead of the transfer deadline.
The East London outfit had yet to replace El Hadji Malick Diouf after his move to Brentford was confirmed earlier in the summer.
However, West Ham finally ticked their box in terms of a replacement late on deadline day, when they confirmed the loan signing of Adama Boiro from Athletic Bilbao.
The 24-year-old has joined the Hammers on loan until the end of the season, after making 14 appearances in La Liga last term.