West Ham and many other Premier League teams could suffer serious financial losses during this current period.
Of course, the main reason is the temporary pause football both domestically and around the globe. It’s still hard to predict how long the pandemic will last. However, as famous online bookie Parimatch experts say, it is obvious that after its completion (and we all hope it will soon) there will be many big changes in football.
This short overview shows one of the examples of how COVID-19 could influence West Ham…
Injuries and contract losses
Before the Premier League stopped, the Hammers had slipped to 16th place, with their top-flight future still well and truly in the balance. Current circumstances have developed so that the club has several prerequisites for such an unpleasant finish to the season.
The most significant of them are:
- Key players’ serious injuries
- Expiration of some important contracts
- Cancellation of some new contracts
The first of the listed reasons would not be so serious without the second one and without COVID-19. Due to an unfortunate coincidence, several players were injured at once, whose contracts expire in the summer of 2020.
So, last year Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta officially announced that this was his last season in football as a player. Therefore, even when he regains shape after a minor injury, he will no longer have to play.
Another injured first-team player is Colombian international Carlos Sanchez. He suffered a serious knee injury and was sidelined from the game for eight months. Now West Ham are looking for any buyer who will offer at least something for Sanchez’s services.
The only good exception is Ukraine forward Andrey Yarmolenko. After a serious injury, he managed to play several matches and significantly strengthened the team. Moreover, Yarmolenko said that he is not going to leave Hammers in the near future.
Another problem for West Ham is Tomas Soucek from Slavia Prague. In January, the Hammers paid £4m on a loan deal for him. The Czech international has enjoyed a good start to life in the Premier League. According to his contract, the club will purchase him – if West Ham remain in the top flight – for around £16m on top of the loan fee already paid.
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Despite the big problems that appeared immediately for several reasons, the club remains calm and confident. In early April, team head coach David Moyes and West Ham vice president Karren Brady agreed to lower their salaries in favour of other club employees.
The players followed their example and the salary of each of them was reduced by 30%. In this way, the team demonstrated its unity and understanding of the current problems the world is facing.
