West Ham taken over but future remains unclear

West Ham's new owner CB Holding refused to make any promises about the long-term future of the club today as beleaguered businessman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson was forced to step down as chairman.

Icelandic investment back Straumur is the majority shareholder in CB Holding and one of its senior directors, Andrew Bernhardt, will now run the club.

Georg Andersen, Straumur's head of corporate communications, claimed West Ham would have gone into bankruptcy in the next 24 hours if they had not completed the takeover today.

He said: "I am not going to bullshit anyone and say we are going to own the club forever. We honestly believe there is no buyer out there willing to pay the true value of the club at the moment. We are realisitic enough to know that we will have to hold to the club for some time — a couple of years, maybe even more — to do so."

Straumur, who has itself hit financial problems in the global recession and is now run by the Icelandic Government, will insist that the club remain self-financing which means manager Gianfranco Zola will have to sell before he can buy.

Straumur is expected to hold on to the Premier League club for the forseeable future until the financial climate improves and then seek investors.

Bernhardt insisted that Zola would remain in his position and said: "I can assure fans we will sanction investment in new players, but all within the parameters of sensible budgeting based on revenues generated by West Ham United."