West Ham legend joins Rio and Anton Ferdinand in backing PAI Capital takeover bid

Former West Ham star Tony Cottee is the latest ex-Hammer to come out in support of PAI Capital’s takeover bid.

The West Ham legend joins Anton and Rio Ferdinand in declaring his support for the investment firm as they prepare a second bid for the club.

PAI Capital are an investment group backed by Azerbaijani millionaire Nasib Piriyev and includes former Queens Park Rangers chief Philip Beard who spoke in length about the takeover bid earlier this week.

Cottee joins the Ferdinand brothers hoping for change at West Ham and has given his whole-hearted support to the bid.

“I’ve been following the bid closely and have had detailed discussions with the PAI team recently. Having got to know the people involved and having had the opportunity to learn more about their plans, I’m pleased to announce that I’m fully behind PAI’s bid,” Cottee said.

Read More
Read More

“Everyone knows how much this club means to me, I want the best for the West Ham players, the staff and the fans, and I’m confident that PAI will deliver on all fronts.

“We’ve spoken at length about what is needed – those discussions have included Rio, Anton and the rest of the bidding team – and we are all on the same page about what can be done.

“There is a real passion from everyone involved, and a confidence that we can reach the goals we have set out to achieve – the first one, of course, is getting the fans to believe in this bid. We want the fans to support this, and I’m hoping that I can help with that conversation.”

Why should you sign up?

In each football.london West Ham bulletin, we’ll be bringing you the latest breaking news, transfer features and comment pieces, as well as the key talking points for fans.

We’ll also send special newsletters when big stories break or there’s a special event happening.

How do you sign up?

It’s easy and only takes seconds.

Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article – or any article on the West Ham section of football.london in fact – labelled ‘Get the biggest daily stories by email’ and click ‘Subscribe’.

And that’s it, you’re all set.

If you decide later that you no longer wish to receive the emails, simply follow the unsubscribe link in one of the newsletters – but we don’t think you’ll want to.

For more details, click here.

Despite David Sullivan’s vehement denial that proof of funds has been provided by PAI Capital, Beard was adamant that his group has the money and will be submitting a second bid imminently.

Beard said the consortium were “serious people” and were determined to test the strength of Sullivan’s resolve to hang onto the club.

football.london understand that despite interest from PAI Capital West ham’s stance remains unchanged that no formal bid has been received and the club is not for sale.

https://www.football.london/west-ham-united-fc/news/west-ham-rio-ferdinand-takeover-21365782

Recommended For You