Manor Solomon's side of the story, West Ham's side: Inside the winger's London transfer

Manor Solomon has always aspired to play in London for a Premier League club. That has been true since he arrived at Fulham. It was true for Tottenham, and it is also true for his new team. Well, almost true. West Ham will not play in the Premier League in the coming season, but Solomon reached the destination he wanted: A London club that, given its history and the size of its business, fully belongs in the Premier League.

That is also the intention of everyone at the East London club: To return to the Premier League as quickly as possible. That is everyone's mission at the club, a mission that is not simple at all given that the Championship is one of the toughest leagues in the world, and the drama surrounding the ownership, management, and operation of the club refuses to die down.

The financial condition of the club can be analyzed according to the latest financial statements, which paint a general picture that is not simple at all. The financial situation of West Ham United is not good. There is acute liquidity pressure, and that is even before the financial fallout from a record pre-tax loss of 104.2 million pounds in the 2024/25 season, and the club's drop to the second division at the end of the 2025/26 season, which is not yet reflected in the reports, but is fully felt in the club's operations.

It is necessary to understand that the latest official financial statements of West Ham United revealed a record loss that represented a sharp drop compared to a net profit of 57.2 million pounds recorded in the 2024 fiscal year. That financial profit stemmed mainly from the sale of Declan Rice for 105 million pounds.

At West Ham, under the ownership of David Sullivan, they basked in the net profit and did not carry out reforms in organizational management, which, without the sale for that huge sum, would likely have ended in a large loss. Today, West Ham owes 212 million pounds to other clubs for player purchases, 113 million pounds of which must be repaid in the next 12 months.

What about expected revenue from player sales? According to the latest report, West Ham is expected to receive only 36.5 million pounds. In addition, a year ago the club took out a loan of 124 million pounds, which is due in five years. When everything is calculated, it reaches a point where the cumulative deficit is 312 million pounds, and in the board of directors report attached to the financial statements, auditors warned of an expected cash shortage.

It should be said that despite the one-time loss of 104.2 million pounds in a single year, West Ham remained within the limits of the Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the three-year monitoring cycle that ended in the 2025 fiscal year, thanks to the profit of 57.2 million pounds from 2023/24.

However, it is now entering EFL regulation, which is far less tolerant of large financial losses. The EFL Profitability and Sustainability Rules limit losses to 13.8 million pounds per Championship season, totaling 83.8 million pounds over a rolling three-year period that includes previous Premier League years, and club revenue will collapse this season from about 230 million pounds to around 160 million pounds, including parachute payments.

In June, both because of West Ham's situation and because of sexual assault allegations, Sullivan left the position of chairman, an event that started a takeover battle for the club. On August 1, 2026, Vanessa Gold, the daughter of David Gold, who was Sullivan's partner, reached a conditional agreement to sell her family's 25.1% stake for about 150 million pounds to a consortium led by Amanda Staveley (PCP Capital Partners and Ashland Forest Capital Partners). Staveley was a significant figure in the sale of Newcastle to the Saudis in 2021.

The issue is that according to the club's articles of association, existing shareholders, primarily Daniel Křetínský (EP Group) and David Sullivan, hold a 60-day right of first refusal. Křetínský publicly declared his intention to exercise his right of first refusal and match Staveley's offer. Currently, Křetínský holds 43% of the club's shares and is expected to control more than 68%, making him the boss for now. Furthermore, Křetínský's expanded status allows for shareholder capital injections and debt refinancing needed to cover operational deficits and repay high-interest loans, which is likely what will happen.

Incidentally, the club issued an official statement intended to reassure fans, claiming "the 60-day timeline for the right of first refusal will have zero impact on daily operations or the active summer transfer budget."

What certainly impacted the transfer budget was the financial reorganization aimed at stabilizing the club. Contractual relegation clauses triggered automatic across-the-board pay cuts of up to 50% for most of the playing squad and professional staff. Additionally, high earners from last season, such as Lucas Paquetá, Niclas Füllkrug, Edson Álvarez, Crysencio Summerville, and Mateus Fernandes, were sold or marked for departure to generate about 150 million pounds in sales and free up tens of millions in annual wages. Estimates indicate that without these sales, West Ham would record an astronomical loss in its next financial report.

Despite ongoing maneuvers in the boardroom, West Ham United's ownership structure has not officially completed a full transfer of control, and the club explicitly confirmed that the process between shareholders does not alter current transfer activities. While ownership remains in the right-of-first-refusal stage, West Ham's player recruitment model has undergone a fundamental evolution in recent months due to two primary factors.

The club moved away from the continental, data-focused sporting director model following friction over squad construction. Technical director Tim Steidten left the club in early 2025, and since then it was essentially decided that recruitment would be directly tied to the preferences of manager Nuno Espírito Santo. That means Santo's control over the squad and player identity is very significant. He prefers proven, experienced Premier League players, and those have not yet joined.

The person responsible for executing recruitment is Nils Koppen, head of player recruitment at West Ham United, after officially joining the club in July 2026. The Belgian, who previously worked at Copenhagen and Glasgow Rangers, knew Solomon well and saw an opportunity to bring a player he considers Premier League quality to the Championship.

Santo and Koppen are still fighting to retain some of last season's Premier League starters, and will likely succeed in keeping club hero Jarrod Bowen. But the fact that Manor is the club's largest signing this summer at 5 million pounds, which will be calculated in installments and depreciation, is a sign of things to come.

That is to say, they will attempt to bring in two or three more players with Premier League experience cheaply, four or five players will be promoted from the youth academy to fill out numbers, and there will be an attempt to bring in more players on free transfers and loans. There will also be gambles, such as Keiber Lamadrid, a player from Venezuela who was brought in for about 1 million pounds and is expected to compete with Solomon for a spot in the lineup.

Those close to Solomon are very satisfied with the move to the major London team. The hope is that Manor will return to the Championship and experience a season similar to the one he had with Leeds: Individual excellence and promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season. Solomon also aims to stay at West Ham for as many seasons as possible after a period of frequent moves. According to the numbers, to stay, he will indeed need to do everything so that West Ham returns to the Premier League, because its financial situation does not realistically allow it to remain outside the world's richest league for more than one season.