For Sale Signs Go Up at West Ham

Björgólfur Guðmundsson's bank Landsbanki has been nationalised and the board of directors has been dismissed and the bank put into receivership.

Whilst Guðmundsson owns West Ham outside of Landsbanki, the stock is held within the same holding company, Samson Holding as half of his Lansbanski stock. There are rumours floating around this morning that the upshot of this is that Guðmundsson is looking for a buyer for West Ham but that he doesn't need to accept 'any offers'.

The BBC are reporting that a West Ham board member has told them that,

"West Ham is definitely not for sale. Mr Guðmundsson is not looking to sell the club and he is as committed as ever."

Despite losing his bank and (presumably) the £163m he lent to XL, West Ham board members are also claiming that Guðmundsson is still sitting pretty,

"This is not affecting West Ham," a senior boardroom member told BBC Sport.

"One of Mr Gudmundsson's investments has gone bad, but he is still standing and has a lot of other investments."

Another board member said,

"West Ham is protected by Mr Gudmundsson. He has considerable personal wealth in a number of sectors, such as construction and shipping, and most of these assets and investments are overseas."

Hmm, watch this space ...