But the club deny being in financial trouble

Landsbanki, the bank that West Ham’s Icelandic chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson owns a 40 per cent stake in alongside his son, has been put into receivership and will be taken over by the country’s government.

The news could prove disastrous for West Ham who, having sold players this summer to balance the books, are without a shirt sponsor following the collapse of XL and may be forced to pay Sheffield United in excess of £30 million over the Carlos Tevez affair.

However, an unnamed West Ham board member denied reports that recent developments have left the club in financial danger, telling the BBC:

“This is not affecting West Ham. One of Mr Gudmundsson’s investments has gone bad, but he is still standing and has a lot of other investments. He has considerable personal wealth in a number of sectors, such as construction and shipping, and most of these assets and investments are overseas.”

Iceland is one of the countries that has been hit hardest by the credit crunch and in the aftermath of Landsbanki’s collapse it was today announced that Russia will loan them four billion euros.

If Gudmundsson has been severely hit by the credit crunch then Hammers fans will be hoping that reports on Sunday claiming that Indian Anil Ambani, the sixth richest man in the world, is interested in buying the club are true.