PSG’s Qatari owners are reportedly eyeing a shock investment and with West Ham at a crossroads, David Sullivan must now do the right thing.
David Sullivan is under huge pressure to sell up or step aside at West Ham United.
After a public vote of no confidence in the owners from the West Ham Fan Advisory Board, thousands of supporters took part in a protest ahead of the Palace defeat at the weekend.
Further activism is planned by Hammers fans, including a boycott of the Brentford game, a sit-in after Newcastle, larger matches and black balloon away game protests.
West Ham fans have protested against Sullivan, vice-chair Karren Brady and the owners before.
But this time it feels different.
It increasingly looks like there is now no way back for Sullivan with the Hammers fanbase.
At the very minimum, supporters want him and Brady to step aside and let specialist professionals run the football operation.
Whether that be through new investors coming aboard, perhaps by initially buying the Gold family shares, Sullivan and Brady relinquishing control of the day-to-day running of the club or a full West Ham takeover, fans won’t rest until their demands are met.
Sullivan under mounting pressure to sell West Ham
Brady stated West Ham’s owners are going nowhere after the opening day 3-0 defeat to Sunderland.
That performance and result set alarm bells ringing for what was to come.
Five defeats in six games leaves West Ham staring at a relegation battle their squad looks ill-equipped to win.
With £100m losses coming in West Ham’s December accounts, the current board is on the ropes.
To make matters worse Sullivan’s fiancée Ampika Pickston has been embroiled in an unsavoury public slanging match with some West Ham fans since the Palace defeat.
The fact many fans – not just of the Hammers – have been remarking ‘only at West Ham’ sums up the almost farcical point this proud old football club has reached.
There have been persistent rumours of takeovers and investment in West Ham since the move to the London Stadium in 2016.
The board has been accused of putting off potential suitors with an extortionate valuation of the club.
Back in 2020, Brady’s personal website listed West Ham as being worth £800m.
Given the Hammers don’t own their own stadium and the training ground is seen as a laughing stock by fans, it is easy to see why that valuation might put potential suitors off.
The latest uprising by fans has ratcheted up pressure for the club to change hands or seek new funding from a more ambitious and serious group.
Now PSG’s Qatari owners are reportedly eyeing a shock investment and Sullivan must do right thing for West Ham.
PSG’s Qatari owners eye shock bid and Sullivan must do right thing for West Ham
Cast your minds back to December 2016 and Sullivan released an official statement that he had rejected a ‘tentative’ £650m offer for West Ham from Red Bull.
Sullivan went on to state he would only consider selling West Ham to ‘somebody like the King of Saudi Arabia who can take it to a level we cannot ourselves hope to reach’.
Now the opportunity to attract mega-rich Middle East investment, from a party who have been linked with the Hammers in the not-too-distant past, is there for the taking.
But West Ham could miss out to Championship Bristol City it seems.
Last season boyhood Hammers fan Ray Parlour called on Sullivan to sell West Ham so the club can fulfil its true potential as a Champions League club.
It is widely reported that super rich Qataris bought up land and buildings around the Olympic Stadium before West Ham moved there.
That sparked tenuous suggestions in the press that West Ham were being primed for a future takeover.
In 2016, The Daily Mail reported that West Ham were being lined up for a takeover by the Qatar Investment Authority – who already owned the Olympic village. The same report said Spurs were also on the radar for Qatar ownership.
PSG’s Qatari owners were said to have held talks with Daniel Levy over investing in – or buying – Tottenham.
If Qataris want in to English football, Sullivan must offer up Hammers
The Sun previously claimed Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani was eyeing West Ham should his attempts to buy Man United fail – which they ultimately did.
BBC journalist Simon Stone, who has strong sources at Old Trafford, name-checked both West Ham and Tottenham when claiming Sheikh Jassim will likely look to buy another Premier League club should his Man United bid fail.
Now there are unverified claims that Qatar Sports Investment, headed up by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is heavily interested in acquiring a majority stake in Bristol City.
Saudi Arabian businessman and boxing promoter, Turki Alalshikh, spoke out to deny he was going to be taking over the Robins.
In an update on the potential Bristol City buy-in, it has even been claimed Qatar Sports Investment ‘tried to buy a stake in West Ham in 2023 but saw it rejected’.
If there is even the faintest glimmer of hope those talks can be resurrected as PSG’s owners reportedly look to invest in an English club, then Sullivan, who is now 77, must reach out and do the right thing for West Ham United.
