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West Ham fans were warned today not to become too excited at the prospect of another takeover bid.
Following speculation that Birmingham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold were ready to invest in the Upton Park club after selling out to Carson Yeung for £82million, the weekend brought a new potential investor to light.
American Wall Street mogul Jim Bowe, head of London-based Intermarket Group and a former president of the New York Board of Trade, has confirmed that he began takeover talks before the weekend.
Bowe's consortium is believed to be ready to pay £100m for West Ham, currently owned by CB Holdings, a company arm of Icelandic investment bank Straumur.
A West Ham spokesman said today that the club's policy was not to comment on takeover speculation but added: "We have had enough false dawns already."
It is believed that Bowe did make initial contact with club chairman, Straumur bank executive Andrew Bernhardt, but that it was solely a preliminary discussion.
Straumur originally wanted £120m for the club, with well over half that sum needed to clear debt, but an offer of £100m is likely to be enough.
It is understood that other interested parties are still hovering but that the team's parlous state in the Premier League - they are second-from-bottom with only one win this season - is not helping. And manager Gianfranco Zola can bemoan his luck once again following the 2-1 defeat at Stoke.
Home defender Robert Huth escaped conceding a penalty and a red card after appearing to strike Matthew Upson in the face while waiting for a corner. Huth, though, looks certain to be banned after the Football Association look at the incident.
Despite the defeat, Valon Behrami insists West Ham are on the verge of climbing the table even though they host in-form London rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
The midfielder said: "We are still very positive. If we keep doing what we are doing in training every day then we will come to a moment when we are lucky.
"There are some times when you don't deserve to win and you win and we will arrive at that moment in the season.
"The Premier League is like this. We are just in an unlucky moment."
