This is how much money Lai spent on four big West Brom Jan signings – report
West Brom entered the January transfer window in a perilous league position yet Sam Allardyce had a tiny budget to work with, per The Telegraph.
The report outlines the cost of Albion’s four major signings, with fees spent on Robert Snodgrass and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The total outlay was £500,000, though West Brom are also paying all of Mbaye Diagne’s £55,000 a week wages, and Okay Yokuslu’s salary also.
Yokuslu’s parent club Celta Vigo did not demand a fee up-front, but should West Brom survive they will owe the Spanish club a fee.
Albion’s limited budget also ruled out a move for Hamza Choudhury due to the finances involved – at one stage it looked likely that he would join.
Furthermore, the deadline-day signings of Maitland-Niles and Yokuslu only got over the line due to Cedric Kipre and Sam Field departing on loan.
Not fair on Big Sam
It is difficult to see why Sam Allardyce joined in December.
Our chances of avoiding relegation looked slim back then and he has since been unable to steer us in the right direction.
He recently admitted that the squad he took over was not good enough to survive, and that means he clearly wanted to add to his squad when he took the job.
Although he has done that, it is unlikely that Guochuan Lai met his expectations.
In previous survival campaigns Big Sam spent £34.6million at Crystal Palace and approximately £18.5m at Sunderland to keep them in the Premier League.
By comparison, what we have offered him is appalling.
Given the lack of backing from the board and the poor standard of several of our players, Big Sam is likely regretting his decision to join.
He and Luke Dowling deserve praise for getting bodies through the door considering the circumstances – particularly Maitland-Niles who had interest from Leicester and Southampton.
As for Lai, it is another sign of his lack of ambition for the club and his lack of investment since promotion will likely lead to relegation once again.
In other West Brom news, ‘Player with passion’, ‘Love that’: Some Albion fans react to fighting message from ‘class’ 23yo.