Something just wasn’t right about Daniel Křetínský’s plan to take over majority ownership of West Ham.
When David Sullivan resigned as co-chairman in June following serious historic allegations, which he denies, West Ham's official board statement was carefully constructed to project stability and clarity of purpose. Daniel Křetínský, it implied, was the man stepping forward. The Czech billionaire who had quietly built his stake from 27 per cent over four years was finally taking the wheel. A deal had been agreed with Vanessa Gold to purchase a portion of the Gold family's 25.1 percent stake, propelling Křetínský to 43 per cent, the largest single shareholder. A new era would begin.
That was seven weeks ago. The deal never closed. And now Amanda Staveley has walked through the door Křetínský left open.
According to Gary Jacob and Martyn Ziegler of The Times, Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, acting through PCP Capital Partners, have submitted a formal bid of approximately £160 million to purchase Vanessa Gold's entire 25.1 per cent stake in West Ham United and now Gold has released a statement confirming the bid was accepted. Sky News confirmed that PCP Capital Partners have made their offer, with existing shareholders holding first refusal to match the terms. It is understood that a deal could be completed before the season begins.
"While the process has not yet concluded, I wanted to be open with our fans about where things stand and my intentions."Vanessa Gold
In a statement Gold released this afternoon she says " I have now reached an agreement to sell my family’s shareholding to a consortium of PCP Capital Partners, led by Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, in partnership with Ashland Forest Capital Partners. This sale remains subject to a pre-emption process, under which existing shareholders have the option to buy the shares instead. While the process has not yet concluded, I wanted to be open with our fans about where things stand and my intentions."
Křetínský agreed to buy 16 per cent of the Gold family shares in June, deliberately not the full 25.1 per cent, because West Ham's ownership structure means he does not want to acquire all of the Gold-owned stake, which would make him the club's majority owner. He has said in a recent interview and on a Czech podcast that he has no desire for full ownership of West Ham. That was not a secret. Křetínský made clear he had no desire for full ownership, backing that up with his deliberate decision to purchase only an additional 16 per cent. The number is the exact amount needed to avoid financial sanctions rather than a statement of genuine ambition.
Gold shed some more light on the situation with Křetínský. "On the 12th June Daniel Kretinsky and I agreed on a sale… unfortunately, since that time the original deal and other alternatives that we have discussed could not be brought to fruition."
"The agreement we had reached with the Gold family in June provided stability for the club at a crucial time. This does the opposite."Daniel Křetínský
At that moment, West Ham needed a majority owner to step up and when Sullivan was gone, when the club was relegated, when over 50,000 season ticket holders were demanding clarity: Křetínský's response was to do the minimum necessary to avoid a financial penalty. He explains his position in a statement he released responding to Gold's comments. "The agreement we had reached with the Gold family in June provided stability for the club at a crucial time. This does the opposite. We will always act in the best interests of West Ham United and are reviewing all of our options, including exercising our pre-emption rights in full."
We reported on GSH that the board announcement after Sullivan's departure felt like a document constructed to reassure rather than to inform. The framing of Křetínský as the man leading the project was always at odds with everything the man himself had said publicly about his appetite for control. A billionaire who owns Sparta Prague, Royal Mail and multiple media properties across Europe may not have the bandwidth to lead West Ham United afterall. He has been a patient financial investor, not a football owner in any meaningful sense of the word.
The seven weeks of silence since the June announcement confirmed it. It was announced that the sale of shares would take "a couple of weeks," however the hold-up in getting this resolved has clearly had an impact across the club, with West Ham appearing to be in pause mode until it goes through. That pause cost this club real time in the transfer window. Nuno Espírito Santo arrived for pre-season without clarity over who owned the club he was trying to rebuild. Nils Koppen began his recruitment work without knowing whether the man signing off on transfer budgets would be Křetínský, Vanessa Gold, Tripp Smith or someone else entirely.
That is not how a serious football operation functions. And the question that now demands an answer is whether Křetínský ever intended it to.
Enter Amanda Staveley
Staveley, who orchestrated the Saudi Arabian-backed takeover of Newcastle, sold her shares in the Magpies in July 2024 after just under three years overseeing the club's transformation on Tyneside. She has spent the time since looking for her next project, exploring investments at Tottenham and other Premier League clubs, before landing on West Ham. In June she said publicly: "We've looked at a lot of clubs, including Tottenham, but we are looking at clubs around the Premier League and the UK, Europe. We really want to be buying, going in and investing into a club again very soon."
She meant it. And when Křetínský's deal stalled and Vanessa Gold's patience ran out, Staveley moved.
According to Alan Nixon, the agreement could be finalised within hours. It is understood that rival bidders are unlikely to match or exceed what Staveley's consortium is offering. Křetínský holds the right of first refusal, he could match the £160 million figure and take the shares himself. However, sources indicate that Křetínský reportedly refuses to consider a majority sale of his West Ham shares, and is unlikely to exercise that right in full.
Staveley's masterplan, according to sources, still involves Křetínský. Buying the Gold stake gives her a foot in the door, ready to then pursue Sullivan's 38.8 per cent alongside Křetínský as soon as Sullivan is open to selling, which he has indicated would likely come when West Ham return to the Premier League.
The uncertainty over what is going on at board level has likely been frustrating for Nuno, who is preparing his side for their first competitive outing of the season against Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup next week. Sources have confirmed that the frustration is legitimate. A manager trying to build a promotion-winning squad in a compressed window, without clear ownership above him, is being asked to do his job with one hand tied behind his back.
What Staveley's arrival promises is the thing this club has been missing since Sullivan's era began to crumble: she is a genuine football owner. Someone who does not view West Ham as a line on a balance sheet but as a project to be built. Her Newcastle record is not perfect but the transformation of that club from relegation fodder to Champions League qualifying happened on her watch and with her energy. West Ham ownership have lacked that ambition for some time.
For Křetínský, it's clear: He is a billionaire who does not want full control of the club and does not want the responsibility as a leader. A deal announced as done in June and still unresolved in August is not a deal done. It's proof he was never interested in leading this project the way it needed to be. Staveley is his way out of that obligation he committed to publicly in June. It seems, at least for now, he’s willing to take a back seat again.
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