Graham Potter has been left in no doubt that money will be tight at West Ham this summer but there’s a £15m carrot dangling.

It seems unthinkable that Graham Potter wouldn’t have known the financial situation at West Ham when taking the job.

Potter is being assisted by new head of recruitment Kyle Macauley in identifying targets for the summer.

The goal is to revamp West Ham’s ageing squad significantly.

Except PSR restrictions mean the Hammers need to sell players to fund that rebuild.

West Ham plan to make over £100m in sales with as many as seven in the shop window.

A number of other current stars on big wages will also be released at the end of their contracts.

So as long as West Ham can get decent value offloading players, money will be there for Potter.

Perhaps more than ever before, every single penny counts at West Ham in the next window.

Both in terms of player sales and acquisitions.

There can be no missed opportunities or wastage on either side.

Every penny counts for PSR restricted West Ham this summer

West Ham have bemoaned a loss of revenue as a result of not being in Europe, having less TV games and their big U-turn on concessions.

Many have stated that the Irons’ season is over.

It’s easy to see why.

Out of both cups, no Europe, no realistic hope of European qualification and no threat of relegation means there is a certain lack of jeopardy between now and May.

But the season is far from dead given what is at stake this summer.

Potter will clearly want West Ham to finish as high in the table as possible.

After all that will help him attract players to the club.

West Ham’s season over? Think again

It is far easier to convince a player you can push for Europe next season if you finish a few places off it than closer to the Premier League’s bottom three.

But a higher placed finish could literally help Potter make signings.

West Ham are eyeing a £15m cash boost with a transfer carrot dangling for Potter in the coming months.

With the kind of young, emerging talent Macauley and Potter will be targeting, £15m will be enough to sign West Ham a player in the summer.

The Hammers have, for example, been linked with exciting young Dutch powerhouse Ezechiel Banzuzi. His club, OH Leuven, are said to want around £13-15m for the star.

So £15m is an important amount of money.

West Ham eye £15m boost as transfer carrot dangles for Potter

And that is what is on the cards for West Ham between now and May.

Premier League merit payments are distributed on a sliding scale from 1st to 20th.

The cash bonuses are made up of combined earnings from domestic and international broadcast deals.

Each league position is worth around £3m in merit payments.

As things stand, West Ham, in 15th place, will earn just under £17m in merit payment.

But two wins on the bounce and forthcoming fixtures have given hope Potter’s side can finish the season strongly.

Should West Ham beat a depleted Newcastle on Monday night, they could go just six points off the top 10 and only seven off seventh.

Plenty of merit to a strong finish for Hammers

They will even close the gap on Newcastle in sixth to eight points.

That is less than the points Everton made up on West Ham recently following David Moyes’ arrival. So it is do-able.

Especially with 30 points still to play for after the clash with the Magpies.

As you can see from the table below, an end of season surge from the Hammers to a top 10 finish in the final quarter of the campaign will be worth £15m in extra merit payments.

So those suggesting West Ham’s season is over, think again.

There are 15 million reasons why it is not.

Quite literally there could be a Banzuzi at stake for the Hammers come what May.