Guochuan Lai chairs West Brom board meetings remotely as talks held with Ron Gourlay
Guochuan Lai is taking a more hands-on approach in the management of West Brom even though he’s been unable to return to the UK from China, according to The Athletic’s Steve Madeley.
Lai, who is Albion’s controlling shareholder and made himself the club’s chairman on 2 February, visited England earlier in the season while Valerien Ismael was in charge.
It was a difficult journey for the Chinese businessman, who had to quarantine for a long time due to COVID-19 restrictions in both the UK and China.
West Brom’s CEO Ron Gourlay said in early March that Lai would return to the Black Country later that month [Birmingham Mail].
However, Madeley has reported that the lengthy quarantine spells have meant that Lai has been forced into holding meetings from afar.
“In the end, Guochuan Lai didn’t come over at the end of March as he’d been hoping to,” said Madeley on The Athletic website. “I believe the reason was largely COVID-19 related, with restrictions on travelling back into China still more stringent than they are in the UK.
“When he visited last year, he had to complete a hotel quarantine on arrival in the UK and then a really lengthy quarantine on his return to China, so in the end, he decided not to come back so soon.
“I’m told, though, that he has been more involved since taking on the role of chairman formally in February, is chairing board meetings remotely, and is in regular contact with Ron Gourlay.”
Not going anywhere
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Lai’s ownership of West Brom.
In 2021, there were reports about Lai potentially selling the Black Country club but ultimately, nothing came of it and the Chinese businessman has remained in charge at The Hawthorns.
In February, Lai made his role at the club more prominent by moving Li Piyue aside and installing himself as the chairman and hiring Gourlay to replace Xu Ke as CEO.
While we haven’t seen any kind of improvement on the pitch since that change was made, it’s at least an improvement for West Brom fans to see Lai showing an active interest in the club.
But, ultimately, what fans what to see is him flashing the cash.
While Lai has never promised to invest in West Brom, his only monetary contribution to The Hawthorns was the weird signing of Chinese striker Yuning Zhang, who failed to get a UK work permit and was loaned out to Germany and Holland before being sold.
Daryl Dike’s signing in January wasn’t cheap but that was likely done with the money made from selling Matheus Pereira last summer.
Lai will probably want Albion to continue making money for themselves rather than pumping in the cash that would no doubt help the club escape the Championship.
In other West Brom news, Matheus Pereira has sent a message to this player who’s exited The Hawthorns.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on the Baggies plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips