**Amanda Staveley would need to agree a “quite expensive” deal if she wants to complete a full takeover of West Ham United.**
That is the view of former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who told Football Insider that the Hammers are currently valued higher than Newcastle United.
Staveley played a central role in the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s takeover of Newcastle from Mike Ashley in 2021 and was regularly seen at St James’ Park alongside her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi. Now the businesswoman is in talks to buy the Gold family’s shares at the London Stadium, fuelling speculation about a possible full takeover in the future.
David Sullivan and David Gold took control of West Ham in 2010. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky joined as a co-owner in 2021 and earlier this year agreed terms to increase his stake to a controlling position. While he appears to be driving decisions at the club, that deal has not yet been completed.
### West Ham valued higher than Newcastle
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson explained how costly a complete takeover would be for Staveley compared with simply purchasing a 25 per cent stake.
“There has been some talk that they would bid for the whole thing, which would be expensive,” he said.
“If you remember, they paid over £300m for Newcastle for the whole of it. So, to be interested in West Ham at a much higher valuation…
“It’s a London-based club and it’s got the stadium on agreement, but it’s not completely obvious where you get the upside from West Ham.
“I’m going to assume they’re going to get promoted straight away just because of the quality of the squad. Most people would work on that basis.
“You’d still value it on Premier League metrics, especially because they’ve got the parachute payments. You’d assume that this season was just an exceptional dip.
“You have a one-year cost of, let’s say, £50m being in the Championship. But it’s hard to see what she would do beyond the 25 per cent because it becomes quite expensive if you want to buy 100 per cent.”
### Sullivan’s ongoing presence continues to cause problems
Despite the changes in West Ham’s hierarchy, David Sullivan remains part of the ownership group. This has created significant difficulties for the club, particularly around the proposed sale of the women’s team to Monarch Collective.
Talks over that deal have been ongoing for around a year, but allegations of sexual misconduct against Sullivan have stalled progress. It is understood that the West Ham women’s team, as well as the club’s youth sides, were unaware that Sullivan had been banned from interacting with them.
