Sean Whetstone reports that West Ham nearly broke UEFA Financial Fair Play rules when the club released its financial documents for the year that ended on May 31, 2023, on December 29.

The West Ham news source revealed on the 6foot2 website [December 29] that the Hammers have an FFP allowance of 80% for agent fees, wages, and transfers, which comes out to a budget of £189.28 million.

West Ham topped that amount by £202 million, with their total compensation coming in at £136.8 million and their transfer and agent fees coming in at £65.3 million.

The Hammers are able to come back under budget, though, because UEFA regulations permit them to deduct compensation for non-playing and coaching staff as well as funds allocated to community programs, the academy, women’s football, and training facilities.

Circling around the sun

The Hammers will still need to exercise caution so as not to fly too near to the sun for fear of scorching their wings, even though they would have budgeted accordingly and would have been fully aware of how close they were to breaking the UEFA FFP regulations.

Prior to the release of the official records, the Hammers would have known about the allowances granted by UEFA, and the final amount that ended up in the permitted budget would have been determined and measured.

With Manchester City allegedly guilty of 115 financial rule violations, Everton was docked ten points, and the inquiry is still ongoing, Premier League clubs will be hyper-aware of financial constraints and will be desperate to avoid any issues.

The decision for Premier League clubs to realise their finances at the end of the year on 31 December rather than the previous date of 31 March reportedly left some clubs worried about potential breaches as they feared a similar fate to Everton [The Telegraph].