There is no love lost between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur but their fans share something in common – they both want new owners.
West Ham supporters want majority owner David Sullivan to sell up.
Especially as it emerges that the Hammers are facing financial issues which will restrict their spending this summer.
With the team languishing down in 16th in the Premier League, the inability to invest in the team does not bode well.
Earlier this season boyhood Hammers fan Ray Parlour called on Sullivan to sell West Ham so the club can fulfil its true potential.
Tottenham fans are also sick to the back teeth of Daniel Levy and ENIC.
Spurs supporters held a protest calling for the owners to sell up at their game against Man United.
West Ham have been down that well trodden path before without any success.
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In November 2021 there was a ray of hope when Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky bought 27 per cent of West Ham, which pumped around £150m into the club.
The hope among Hammers fans was that Kretinsky would one day complete a full takeover, buying out Sullivan.
Spurs and West Ham fans want new owners
But Kretinsky, whose £13bn net worth helps make West Ham the third richest club in the Premier League in terms of ownership, confirmed last summer he has no interest in a full takeover.
Last summer The Sun’s Matt Hughes reported West Ham are one of six Premier League clubs using advisers Rothschild and Co to bring in fresh funds amid strict and restrictive new PSR rules.
Although West Ham denied that claim, saying new investment was meaningless as clubs can only spend what they generate under PSR.
Spurs have reportedly been targeted by PSG’s Qatari owners in the last year.
Meanwhile, West Ham’s Gold family stake was attracting interest from the Middle East and US but remains unsold 16 months after it was made available.
After Man City’s APT rules victory over the Premier League, the scope is there for clubs to arrange lucrative sponsorship deals under new owners like Arsenal with Emirates and Man City with Etihad.
A takeover can save West Ham but Spurs deal a crushing £420bn Qatari blow.
London rivals linked with Qatari takeovers
Takeover talk at West Ham has previously centred around the expiration of an embarrassment clause in the club’s deal with the LLDC as anchor tenants of the former Olympic Stadium, which the club famously fought Spurs over.
After losing out on the London 2012 arena in Stratford to West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur went ahead and built one of the best football stadiums in the world.
There was confirmation that mega rich Qataris had been buying up land and buildings around the Olympic Stadium, leading to tenuous suggestions in the press that West Ham were being primed for a future takeover.
Back 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.
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.
At the time a top source close to Sullivan listed 10 reasons Spurs were much more likely to be taken over by Qataris than West Ham.
Now it seems that was prophetic.
Spurs deal West Ham a crushing £420bn Qatari blow
The Guardian is now reporting that QSI are considering scaling back their interests in France in favour of more international investment.
It comes days after it was reported that Levy has held talks with Qatari investors – private individuals, according to the reports – about a phased takeover of Spurs.
TBR has published a detailed report that the boss of the £420bn fortune is plotting a Premier League takeover with Levy and ENIC leaving the door open.
It is the latest crushing blow for West Ham fans, who just want their day in the sun with owners they feel they deserve.
A large section of supporters dislike the London Stadium intensely and look at the likes of Spurs and Everton with a great deal of envy.
The Hammers also have one of the worst training grounds in England’s top two divisions while Tottenham and a host of other clubs from Brighton to Leicester invest in state-of-the-art multi-million pound complexes.
An ambitious takeover could see those problems solved as well as potentially generating major new income through previously unattainable sponsorship deals.
But it seems bitter rivals Tottenham are now in line to win that particular battle.