A consortium of cash-rich American investors are lining up a bid to buy the London Stadium, according to Claret and Hugh.
The Hammers insider website report that the deal would take the ground out of state ownership, much like the proposed deal from Shahid Khan to buy Wembley.
Claret and Hugh claim that the taxpayer could end up with a bill totalling £1billion in operating losses over the Hammers’ lease, with the investors potentially wiping that debt out by buying the stadium at a fraction of it’s building cost.
It is said however that the stadium could not be sold without the club’s permission, with an insider quoted as saying: “They can only sell to a government department under our agreement.”
West Ham may therefore have a big decision to make in the near future as the ownership of the stadium comes under question in this new twist in the saga.
OPINION
This is an interesting turn of events at the London Stadium, which has caused far more problems than it has solved so far for the club. The move to the 60,000-seater ground was seen as the next step in the club’s evolution, but so far it has turned out to be a poor move from the club after they encountered endless teething problems following the move from Upton Park. Most Hammers fans are still to be convinced about the London Stadium, with the club giving up one of England’s greatest football stadiums to move to a lifeless shell of an arena. This latest development may end up causing further problems for the club, who have a favourable deal in place at the moment. While it is claimed that the stadium could not be sold without the club’s permission, it is not exactly known how far the club can go in preventing this from happening.
