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West Ham threatened with transfer ban, David Sullivan will be braced for ‘worst-case scenario’
West Ham United have not had the best start to the close season, with no signings through the door yet in the wake of a poor 2024/25 campaign.
West Ham fans have been getting increasingly tense over the fact there hasn’t been any progress in terms of high-profile signings.
Now, West Ham have been dealt a further blow in the shape of a court order stating they need to settle the bill for CSKA Moscow’s Nikola Vlasic – or incur a transfer ban.
The Premier League club signed Vlasic in 2021 and a second payment of around £7.3million was due in July 2022.
However, the current geopolitical situation in Russia means that West Ham have found themselves between a rock and a hard place.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ordered the Hammers to pay CSKA a sum of £7.2million.
However, for the payment to be made, West Ham must first receive permission from the UK government after sanctions were placed on doing deals with clubs linked with the Russian state.
And if the Hammers do not pay the fee within the next 45 days, they could be hit with a transfer ban for the next three windows.
Adam Williams, TBR Football’s Head of Football Finance and Governance Content, has spoken about the situation and gave his theories on what the West Ham hierarchy has done to mitigate the issues.
West Ham will have budgeted for Nikola Vlasic situation amid boom period for clubs
Williams told TBR Football that he believes West Ham will have budgeted accordingly, given the case has been going on for some time, so their transfer budget should not take a big hit.
And at this time of year, clubs typically have the most cash in their coffers, with Premier League prize money, sponsorship contracts and season ticket renewals coming up.
“From what I can tell, West Ham had 45 days from when the judgement was handed down to pay the £7m to CSKA and they would be banned from registering any new players until that was deposited,” said Williams.
“The verdict was issued on 31 May, so we’re two weeks on now.
“Regardless of what happens with CAS and enforcing the decision, I’m confident that they will have been budgeting for a worst-case scenario with the Vlasic situation, so they won’t have to massively recalibrate the money available to Potter.
“I can’t speak to the legal side of things, but that’s how they will have approach it from a financial point of view.
“Thankfully, if they are eventually made to settle the bill, this is the time of year when clubs are typically most flush with cash.
“They have got their final tranche of Premier League prize money and sponsorship contracts tend to roll over around this time too, plus you’ve got season ticket renewals and whatnot.
“So while this is undoubtedly not the outcome West Ham would have wanted, it is one they will have prepared for.”
READ MORE: New London Stadium naming rights partner mooted as West Ham tipped to lock in ‘£15-20m’ deal
Will Nikola Vlasic situation affect West Ham’s PSR?
In addition, Williams also confirmed that the Vlasic situation will not affect their PSR, given they will have already amortised his book value.
“Contrary to what the club might have been briefing, they don’t have any PSR issues even after a bad season,” said Williams.
“But even if they did, this wouldn’t affect things as they will have already amortised Vlasic’s book value from the beginning of his contract. Cash and PSR are two separate issues here.”
In terms of PSR, have predicted that West Ham could have lost £95million in 2024-25 and remained PSR-compliant.
“They are in little danger – and, with their accounting year-end falling on May 31, their lack of activity recently is reflective of as much,” they wrote.