'People Hate The Place' - Stefan Borson drops West Ham redevelopment verdict

Amanda Staveley redeveloping the London Stadium would make very little financial sense were she to come aboard at West Ham United.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that costs of such plans would likely rise to £300million.

Staveley, formerly of Newcastle United, is attempting to purchase a minority stake in the Championship club, with Daniel Kretinsky now trying to block the deal.

The 53-year-old is clearly confident of doing so, though, already making plans to purchase the London Stadium as a co-owner in East London.

This situation is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, even with the 2026-27 campaign kicking off soon, but the news has sparked questions over the stadium's future.

Borson has already suggested that Staveley could knock the entire building down, with talk now turning to a less aggressive redevelopment instead.

West Ham to spend 'hundreds of millions of pounds' on stadium plans

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson has suggested there's very little reason to splash the cash on a stadium redevelopment.

"If you go back and have a look at the drawings, West Ham said, 'Well look, we'll get the Olympic Stadium, but we'll make it a football stadium'," he said.

"It hasn't really happened. I mean, I've been there a few times in the away end. I think it's as bad as everybody makes out.

"People hate the place. I'm an outlier. People hate it. And if you look at what they said they were going to build, everything was much closer to the pitch.

"It's hundreds of millions of pounds still, even if it's not £1billion to rebuild it, it's still probably £200m to £300m. And that's not in itself going to generate any more revenue.

"That's purely a change that develops a better atmosphere. It doesn't necessarily put any more seats in there. Is it a financial decision that makes sense? It doesn't seem to be."

Any London Stadium plans must wait until 2029

If you were to ask the match-going supporters, the majority would likely be in favour of a change to the stadium. They absolutely hate it.

However, it would take more than a few minor changes to make the fans like the stadium layout, especially when it comes to how far away some of the seats feel.

In any case, because of London likely hosting the World Athletics Championships in 2029, any plans for the stadium would have to wait.

UK Athletics have struck a deal with the London Stadium for the competition in three years, which already puts a halt to plans that Staveley might have.