West Ham fans are inadvertently helping David Sullivan - Keith Wyness
West Ham United’s 53,369 attendance in their Carabao Cup win over Portsmouth has only helped David Sullivan’s argument in terms of his shares in the club.
That is according to former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that it provides the controlling owner with further grounds to inflate the value of his 38.8 per cent share.
This comes after recent reports that Sullivan laughed off a £300million offer from Amanda Staveley for his stake in the East London outfit, despite him looking to sell the club.
Wyness believes that the strength of the fanbase will only aid Sullivan’s attempts to hold out for a bigger valuation, as it is a huge tick against the club’s name for investors.
Sullivan was in attendance for the victory over Portsmouth, despite being advised to stay away from matchdays at the London Stadium after the club’s relegation from the Premier League.
The attendance for the fixture set a new all-time record for the first round of the Carabao Cup, with over 53,000 fans watching the action.
West Ham fans have 'strengthened' Sullivan's hand
Villa’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs – believes that West Ham’s support proves Sullivan’s “theory” about the value of the club.
The businessman has cut a hugely unpopular figure among the Hammers fans in recent years, but Wyness is adamant that they have just inadvertently helped his cause.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he explained why the supporters will play a “very important” role on and off the pitch in the coming months.
“We just talked about Sullivan saying there's a bigger value to his shares. Well, this almost agrees with that theory, saying, look at the fan base,” Wyness said.
“Look at those record crowds. This is what you're buying. You're buying a club that can get a 53,000 crowd on an opening Carabao Cup fixture.
“They've sold the season tickets; I think 50,000 is what I understand or something like that. West Ham are going to be a very loyal fan base in the Championship.
“Believe me, the Villa fans when I was there were very loyal in the Championship, and they loved it. Many of them told me that because they saw the club winning again and there are some great fixtures in the Championship. It is pure football in many ways.
“So, it's going to be very important that the crowd stays there because that stadium is big and cavernous as we know, but I think they'll be OK. I think that suddenly it's going to be the West Ham fans who will come out of this looking very good and very loyal. I think that's what Daniel Kretinsky can also see as a potential.”
Why Daniel Kretinsky still ‘holds the cards’ at West Ham
Wyness told Football Insider last week that Kretinsky still “holds the cards” in terms of a takeover of West Ham, despite Amanda Staveley agreeing a deal to take on Vanessa Gold’s 25.1 per cent share.
The Czech businessman is contemplating a hijack of that deal, but is yet to match the reported £150m fee that was table by Staveley and her partners.
However, Wyness believes that Kretinsky has the level of resources to effectively match “anything” that was put on the table for Sullivan’s shares, which will ultimately decide who gains control of the club.
As a result, he believes that the Royal Mail tycoon is still in the best position to take over at the London Stadium, despite Staveley muscling her way in.