Special report: with a new billionaire on board, what next for West Ham?

theguardian.com:

PAI Capital was under the impression it was heading in the right direction. The private equity firm had heard that David Sullivan wanted out of West Ham and, after having an opening offer of £300m for the club turned down in November 2020, it was busy preparing its next move.

There was reason for cautious optimism. PAI, founded by the Azerbaijani businessman Nasib Piriyev, had been invited for talks at Sullivan’s Essex mansion before making its first bid and had gone away feeling positive. There were discussions about figures, about life at the London Stadium and the overriding sense from the bidders was that a deal was there to be done with West Ham’s majority shareholder, who has experienced plenty of ups and downs since buying the club with David Gold in January 2010.

Yet it is not easy purchasing a football club. PAI returned with a £400m offer last February but Sullivan had become less welcoming. The 72-year-old would dismiss PAI as “property people” when its interest became public last summer and, in any case, he had caught them off guard by privately telling them he had given exclusivity to a Czech billionaire.

Enter Daniel Kretinsky, swooping in just as PAI was pondering where to go next last October. His deal was approaching the final stages when news of his interest in purchasing a significant stake broke a day after West Ham had knocked Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup. Negotiations with Kretinsky were smooth and there was a new voice at the table after the 46-year-old became the second-largest shareholder by purchasing a 27% stake last November.

Three months on, the question is what comes next. West Ham are battling for fourth place, could win the Europa League and are on the rise under the shrewd