Guochuan Lai could repay West Brom loan with club’s own money – report
West Brom majority shareholder Guochuan Lai may repay the controversial loan debt with money from the club, reports The Athletic’s Steve Madeley.
Albion’s CEO Xu Ke has told shareholders the money could come from a dividend payment that the club would pay Lai first, meaning that no new money would be coming in to help the club push for promotion back to the Premier League.
The value of the loan, inherited from former owner Jeremy Peace, and the interest is thought to be around £5million, and the small shareholders that make up the 12% not owned by Lai’s WBA Holdings company are “angry” at the prospect.
Controversial dealings
The financial gymnastics that allow money to flow in and out of football clubs often makes little sense to outside observers.
How the former owner was able to receive a loan from the club and then buy a greater share of it continues to raise significant questions.
And those questions will only increase if the current owner effectively does the same thing, in receiving a payment from the club he is then repaying with that money.
It will enrage fans that it is the club that is essentially left to pay for its own debt, and especially so if that means that the squad suffers.
Daryl Dike was a £7million arrival at the start of this transfer window and was expected to make a big impact as the team looks to push for promotion back to the top flight.
But the American has been ruled out for eight weeks with injury in a huge blow to the Baggies (Express and Star), and any funds available to soften that blow would be valuable.
Valerien Ismael’s team are well positioned in fifth to mount a challenge but iffy form has also left that position precarious, so a boost from the transfer market to replace the one hoped for from Dike could have been crucial.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies could reportedly be looking to sign this forward from the top of the Premier League.