January transfer blow for Hammers

West Ham admit they have no money for new players after Iceland's second-biggest bank, Landsbanki, collapsed.

Club chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is a major shareholder in both West Ham and Landsbanki and was chairman of the bank until he was sacked on Tuesday.

Vice chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson told BBC Sport: "It is very unlikely he will be willing to put in more money to buy players this January window."

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola had been promised funds on taking charge.

"If we need to improve certain things I'm sure they [the board] will back me," said Zola in September.

Later in the month, Zola added that West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury had told him changes in January would "not be a problem".


Zola has made it clear his first-team squad needs to be reduced ... Once this has happened and if the manager requires further players, then the club will acquire them

Scott Duxbury
West Ham chief executive
In a statement to the club's official website on Tuesday, Duxbury insisted funds would be available, but only if the current squad was trimmed.

"Since his appointment, Gianfranco Zola has made it quite clear that his first-team squad is too large and needs to be reduced so he can effectively coach the team," read the statement.

"Once this has happened and if the manager requires further players, then the club will acquire them.

"Mr Gudmundsson remains fully committed to the success of this football club and building on the excellent start made by Gianfranco Zola."

Duxbury and Fridgeirsson have both reaffirmed that Gudmundsson has no intention of selling the club.

"It will not have a direct impact, there is no need for him to sell West Ham," said Fridgeirsson.

A weekend newspaper report claimed that Indian billionaire Anil Ambani was interested in buying West Ham and had been told the club was available for £150m.

But Fridgeirsson dismissed the suggestion that the club were for sale, adding: "We have not been accepting any offers. Agents have been contacting us and we have told them we are not interested."

The Icelandic government took control of Landsbanki on Tuesday to prevent it collapsing and sacked the bank's board.

There are now fears that the bank could become insolvent, although it released a statement saying: "Landsbanki would like to stress that the bank has not been put into liquidation but is in receivership, which gives it a temporary protection from payment of debts and obligations as they fall due."

Gudmundsson had experienced a testing few months even before the news that Landsbanki was being placed into receivership.

West Ham's shirt sponsor, XL, went bust last month, leaving the club with a potential shortfall of £5m.

It has since emerged that Gudmundsson was the guarantor of a 207 million Euros (£163m) bank loan given to the tour operator.

Two weeks ago, an independent tribunal ruled against West Ham in the Carlos Tevez affair, leaving them liable to a £30m compensation claim.