Exclusive: Pundit surprised as journo makes £120m claim about potential West Brom takeover
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips admits he’s surprised by how much money Guochuan Lai could lose on West Brom if he sells the club amid interest from the US.
According to The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, a number of US-backed consortia, some of which are led by Brits, have posted an interest in buying into European clubs.
West Brom are one of those clubs by the sounds of it as it’s understood Lai is open to selling the Premier League club.
Lai paid £200million to buy Jeremy Peace’s 88 per cent stake in the Baggies in 2016. However, the Chinese business could make a huge loss on that investment.
Madeley reported that “one of the consortiums was led to believe Lai would not accept any less than £120million” while another “was quoted £150million but got the impression that figure could be negotiated down”.
It sounds Lai could lose out on £80million but Phillips has suggested it might simply be the end of the Chinese rule over The Hawthorns whatever figures are involved.
“I’m surprised because businessman very rarely want to make a loss but sometimes your time might have run its course,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“Maybe it’s Lai’s time to move on from West Brom. Cut his losses and get someone else in there that’s going to change the dynamics a little bit.”
Whatever Lai sells West Brom for, it’s very unlikely it’s going to be what he paid for the club back in 2016.
Writing in October, Madeley suggested that Lai overpaid for the Black Country side when he bought it off Peace.
When you consider that and factor in the fact the club has been relegated since and football’s finances have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic then Lai’s asset has shrunk massively in the space of four years.
That doesn’t concern us though, that’s his fault for buying into a business he had no interest in investing in.
In other West Brom news, Micah Richards was impressed by this Baggies ace in the 1-0 win over Sheffield United.
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