How much money AI values West Ham at as Amanda Staveley takeover talk intensifies | OneFootball

West Ham United could be set to be sold to the former Newcastle director Amanda Staveley, so here's much AI thinks she should be paying to buy in.

There is growing speculation that Amanda Staveley could buy in at West Ham United, so here's how much AI thinks such a move might set her back.

The fallout from the scandal concerning David Sullivan is having what could turn out to be long-term ramifications for West Ham United. The club's part-owner has already resigned from his positions within the club as a result of the Panorama expose on his personal life which was broadcast earlier in June, and it now seems inevitable that he will sell his shareholding in the club as well.

There will be no shortage of interest in buying into West Ham, even though they were relegated into the Championship at the end of the 2025-26 season. The club may have struggled throughout that season, but it's only been three years since they won the Europa Conference League, and their average home attendance of 62,347 was the second-highest in the country, behind only Manchester United.

Amanda Staveley could have to pay £700 million to £1 billion to buy West Ham United

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West Ham United may have just been relegated from the Premier League, but it may still take a pretty penny to take ownership of the club.

Football League World have asked ChatGPT for a valuation of the club in their current position, and AI has replied by confirming its belief that Staveley would have to part ways with £700 million to £1 billion in order to take control at The London Stadium in full.

This figure, however, reflects the club's total valuation, and the amount that her group would be paying would be affected by the percentage of the overall shareholding that she would be taking. Sullivan's shareholding in West Ham is 38.8 percent, meaning that, were she to buy his shareholding alone, she would have to pay £380 million at the top end of AI's valuation, and around £271.5 million at the lower end.

AI's valuation of West Ham is based on several key factors. It lists the average crowds at The London Stadium, the club's position over the lease of the stadium and location in the capital city and having a well-established brand as the key calculations used to explain this valuation.

But there are several tempering factors which it has also taken into consideration, including relegation from the Premier League, the fact that the club doesn't own the London Stadium, and commercial revenues that have consistently fallen far short of those earned by the Premier League's "Big Six" clubs, while the continuing involvement of the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky at the club is also cited as a potential complicating factor.

AI concludes by stating that: "West Ham are one of the most attractive non-Big-Six assets in English football."

Buying West Ham United will mean dealing with several different parties

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Buying into a senior professional football club is always a complicated business, but this is all the more the case at West Ham United because of the club's current ownership structure.

West Ham’s ownership group remains led by majority shareholder David Sullivan (38.8 percent), Daniel Kretinsky (27 percent) and other investors including the Gold Family Trust (25.1 percent), who represent the shareholding held by David Gold, Sullivan's former business partner who died in 2023.

Reporting on the possible sale has been coy on the subject of whether Staveley's group would only be buying Sullivan's shareholding in the club, or whether she would be aiming to buy West Ham in full, but there has been no indication recently from Kretinsky that he is prepared to sell his shareholding of the club.

The Czech businessman was recently reported by the Evening Standard to have agreed terms with the Gold family to increase his stake in the club to 43%, which indicates that Staveley will most likely be buying Sullivan's shareholding in the club only.

Furthermore, Kretinsky, who is usually a fairly quiet partner within the ownership structure of the club, has been speaking out on what he feels the club should be doing next, with his comments on what needs to be done to the London Stadium itself in order to make it more suitable for the club as a football venue having gone down well with fans.

Whatever the upshot of these negotiations, West Ham United's first priority for the 2026-27 season will be a quick return to the Premier League. Relegation from the top-flight for the first time since 2010 was a big shock for the club, and David Sullivan stood accused of having mismanaged the Irons to be in that position in the first place, especially with regard to leaving the Boleyn Ground for the London Stadium, a move which is widely regarded by fans to have been a failure.

Now that he has gone, the future of the club is already starting to look as though it's going to be very different, and regardless of what the exact constitution of the leadership of West Ham might look like in the future, fans are still celebrating Sullivan's departure from their club.