West Ham’s Karren Brady speaks out over £40m Leeds United deal that’s already signed

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West Ham vice-chair and former minority investor Karren Brady has made her stance on a particular financial issue facing Leeds United very clear.

While West Ham and Leeds have similar international profiles and domestic fanbases, there is a financial cliff edge between the Premier League and EFL.

In the second tier, Leeds’ broadcast income for 2024-25 will likely total around £11m. West Ham meanwhile can expect to earn more than 10 times that in the top flight.

This disparity is the reason that Leeds, now in their second successive season in the Championship, will receive parachute payments this term. And in the next campaign too, if they fail to win promotion.

But many stakeholders within football believe that the flow of money between the two divisions is still not sufficient and that the Premier League needs to reassess its solidarity payments to the EFL.

There have been talks over a ‘new deal for English football,’ but there has been little in the way of updates on this front for some time.

That is likely because of the imminent introduction of an independent football regulator, which could have the power to implement a new financial

Brady, a staunch critic of the regulator, has now referenced Leeds in a tirade against the government-backed regulator and its advocates in the EFL.

• READ MORE: £13m player suggests he is still upset by what Leeds United told him during the summer

Karren Brady cites Georginio Rutter deal in EFL critique

In her column for The Sun, Brady has once again suggested that the Premier League has no obligation to send more cash to the EFL and the wider English pyramid.

One of the most common arguments in favour of increasing the money the EFL receives from the top flight is that the pyramid is a consistent provider of talent to the Premier League.

Brady thinks this is overstated, writing: “Overall, the Championship clubs did £300m in player sales business.

“Leeds and Burnley led the way, Leeds selling midfielder Georginio Rutter to Brighton for £40m while Fulham enticed the Clarets with £20m for Sander Berge.

“Occasionally a Prem club breaches the £30m mark for a man from the lower league and more often than not he comes from a recently-relegated side.

“Check the records and you will quickly find evidence that the Championship isn’t half the Premier League nursery the EFL thinks it is.

“Record signings of £40m for Rutter and, a year previously, for James Maddison made bold headlines but Premier League clubs tend towards foreigners who are often more cost effective.”

West Ham, Leeds United and the future of football finance and governance

Like Brady, Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear is opposed to an independent regulator.

He even controversially likened it Chairman Mao’s great leap forward. And although the analogy was misguided, his view is shared by most Premier League clubs.

Leeds consider their stint in the Championship to be a temporary problem and they see themselves as genuine competitors in the Premier League in the long term.

If they go up this season, both Leeds and West Ham will be forced to adapt to a new regulatory environment in terms of PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules).

The current system allows top flight clubs to lose a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year period.

But the Premier League are expected to move to a UEFA-style model from 2025-26 which caps spending on wages, transfers and agent fees to 85 per cent of annual turnover.