West Ham stars staying because of stadium move – Brady

The impending move to the Olympic Stadium is helping to convince West Ham’s star players to remain a part of the club’s future, says vice chairman Karren Brady.

West Ham will leave Upton Park, their home for over a century, at the end of the season and will move to the Olympic Stadium which will have an initial capacity of 54,000.

Brady believes the move will elevate West Ham to a club that consistently challenges in the top six of the Premier League, while convincing their top stars to reject the overtures of potential suitors.

“The opportunity this represents for West Ham is huge,” she told Sky Sports News.

“We have 35,000 season ticket sales and by mid-January season tickets will go on general sale, firstly to the priority list.

“There are five times as many people on the priority list as there are available season tickets. All of the corporate hospitality facilities have already sold out.

“We now find ourselves in a position where we have more season ticket holders than we have ever had in our history. Every seat will be sold for every match.

“We want a team that is competing for the top six in the Premier League. That is what we want to achieve by moving to the stadium.

“From our point of view, using the stadium and our brand to attract new players is incredibly important. Lots of our players have attracted attention from other Premier League clubs but none of them have chosen to leave because they want to be part of the journey that we are on and that makes it feel very special at the minute.

“I don’t think we will be targeting marquee signings. What interests us is having the best West Ham team that plays well together and entertains the fans.”