To that point the Hammers were among the Premier League’s top five spenders since 2022.

That coincided with the arrival of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky who paid £150m for 27 per cent of the club in November 2021.

PSR restricts what Premier League clubs can spend relative to what they bring in.

That means West Ham must tighten their belts accordingly this summer.

Sean Whetstone, a close confidant of majority owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady, painted a grim picture of West Ham’s financial position ahead of the summer.

Whetstone claimed last month that Potter and new head of recruitment Kyle Macauley face a difficult window with Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and others needing to be sold in order to make signings.

He stated Potter has ‘tough decisions to make this summer if he wants to reshape his squad’.

Hammers News had warned that could be the case after it was revealed West Ham did a £69m deal with Barclays to access transfer funds owed to them early.

West Ham impacted by PSR just like mega rich rivals.

A whopping £32m of the budget is already assigned to paying for Jean-Clair Todibo.

Although recent performances suggest that will be money will spent in the long run.

There was more promising news this weekend when a top West Ham reporter claimed the owners will be backing the new manager with signings.

And fears West Ham will be shopping in the bargain bin for arrivals should be eased by the reality of the situation.