West Ham’s debut season at the London Stadium has certainly not been boring, with off-field issues now taking centre stage.
The Hammers’ facilities at the London Stadium were raided by HMRC this morning, as part of a widespread investigation into tax fraud in football.
A statement issued by HMRC revealed 180 officers had been deployed in England and France to investigate, with newly-promoted Newcastle United also raided.
Suggestions on Twitter had emerged to suggest the investigations centre around particular transfer dealings recently, which led to many fans on social media speculating.
The name of Dimitri Payet was regularly brought up by fans following the Frenchman’s sale to Marseille in January, as it would go hand-in-hand with the British police’s presence in France.
West Ham have also issued a statement where they said they will help HMRC with their investigations but fans on the outside will have to wait to hear any further details.
https://twitter.com/SrHack123/status/857177546894520320
HMRC analysing why we heavily overpaid for Snodgrass & Fonte?
Or maybe Sulli's over use of favourite agents???
— Sheriff (@sherrriff) April 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/TotalWestHam/status/857168399893491714
https://twitter.com/IANL80s/status/857167778486378496
Strange how the two clubs are both clubs sam was manager an how he said you can get away with stuff when england manager knew it was coming
— brian savage (@sausage196) April 26, 2017
@davidgold @jsullivanwhu @karren_brady Tax dodging eh.If found guilty surely this means your positions at the club r untenable. #everycloud
— Ball Boy (@ballboy69) April 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/Bargal56/status/857166399797592064