West Ham United is poised to be taken over by its creditors in coming weeks.

The Sunday Times says sources close to the east London football club suggest the huge debts of former owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and those of the club itself have all but killed the chances of any rescue.

This means it will fall into the hands of Icelandic bank Straumur and a consortium of other financial institutions.

Straumur is owed about £100m by Gudmundsson, while the club owes about £45m to a group of banks including RBS.

The Icelandic bank is expected to hold on to the club for between two and three years before putting it up for sale.