Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson will not walk away from West Ham United, despite facing the prospect of a £30 million compensation bill owed to Sheffield United.

The Times says Gudmundsson, a multimillionaire, is not about to walk away from the club he bought for £85 million, taking on £20 million in debt, nearly two years ago, even if he seems to have been fighting fires since.

West Ham had been confident that Sheffield United's compensation claim would be thrown out, but they face a substantial bill - the Yorkshire club are claiming about £30 million - in addition to dealing with the loss in income from the collapse of their previous shirt sponsor, XL, the travel company, which owed the club about £2 million for the season. West Ham hope to announce a new sponsor soon.