West Ham’s £155m splurge under Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui proved costly in more ways than one.

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.

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.

Potter could actually get £100m for his West Ham revolution with sales planned.

Hammers News understands the club are looking to sell to fund Potter’s rebuild.

It has been pointed out by a top source close to the club’s owners that West Ham are no different from any other Premier League club in that regard.

Ambitious and mega rich Newcastle and Aston Villa have both had their wings clipped in terms of transfer spending.

It meant Newcastle had to sell two top young players to Premier League rivals to satisfy PSR, despite being the richest sports team in the world by some distance.

Potter could get £100m for West Ham revolution

Villa have also had to offload players such as Moussa Diaby and Jhon Duran to comply.

Their owner is so frustrated he has even threatened to sue the Premier League over PSR.

Sales have become a fundamental part of transfer dealings.

Until Declan Rice, West Ham have a poor track record of getting decent value for their players.

The good news for the Hammers is they have several sales planned to raise sufficient funds for Potter to reshape the team how he wants it – around young, dynamic stars.

Kudus has become something of a problem for West Ham.

The Ghanaian has an £85m release clause in his contract.

That looked liked it might be too cheap after his scintillating debut season.

But Kudus’ has been so poor this term with his end product falling off a cliff.

It is widely accepted at the club Kudus will be sold this summer. But West Ham know they are not going to get anywhere close to £85m.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Saudi clubs have all been linked.

The Hammers will hope for a bidding war – especially with the Saudis involved.

Kudus and Paqueta head up planned Hammers sales

Realistically the most West Ham can expect to raise is between £55-60m – which would still represent a healthy profit on the £38.5m they paid Ajax.

That will form the foundation of Potter’s summer transfer budget.

To supplement it, Paqueta will be next on the way out.

West Ham are desperate to recoup some of the club’s record £51m outlay.

Everything hinges on the Brazilian being cleared of spot-fixing.

Hammers News understands Paqueta is grateful to the Hammers for their support in the case against him.

But he is keen to return to Brazil with former club Flamengo and Botafogo interested.

A fine player on his day, Paqueta had been well off form for over a year until Potter’s arrival.

His statistics are not as good as they should be in terms of goals and assists for a player of his talent.

Paqueta turns 28 in August and with a couple of years left on his deal, now would be the time to cash in if he is absolved.

It is understood the Hammers will accept £20m for Paqueta.

There are a number of ‘ifs’ before that happens. But those two sales would give Potter at least £70m to play with.

West Ham will seek buyers for Fullkrug, Mavropanos and others

As reportedly previously, Hammers News understands disastrous striker signing Niclas Fullkrug would have been sold in January had he not sustained another injury.

The German has not settled in London according to senior club sources.

Juventus and German clubs remain interested.

West Ham may be able to get around £15m of their £26.5m outlay back if Fullkrug can get back and stay fit by the summer.

That would take Potter’s kitty to over £80m.

West Ham will be looking for takers for Konstantinos Mavropanos at around £8m and Guido Rodriguez at at least £2.5m.

The team’s slow, immobile midfield has arguably been its biggest problem since Rice’s departure.

Edson Alvarez, who has been better under Potter, may also be sacrificed so Potter can inject much-needed pace, dynamism and power into West Ham’s one-paced midfield.

Selling the Mexican could be expected to raise at least £15-20m too.

Although depending on other sales, Potter may want to retain a player who has become a close friend of captain Jarrod Bowen.

Potter will have transfer funds and West Ham’s backing to spend

Potter does not particularly fancy Emerson Palmieri. Like most of his teammates, he has blown hot and cold for too long.

Emerson has lost his place to Ollie Scarles and was linked with Milan and Turkish sides in the last two windows.

His sale could raise another £5-8m.

A number of players, such as Danny Ings, will also be released at the end of the contracts – freeing up sizeable sums in wages.

Potter and Macauley will then be focused on signing at least two strikers, two or three midfielders – one of which would be a playmaker – and a centre-back.

Depending on the sales and how much money is left, a new goalkeeper and left-back may also be targeted.

Providing West Ham can get sales sorted early in the window, it looks like Potter will be able to overhaul the Premier League’s oldest squad.