Strings attached to loan as West Brom look to avoid catastrophe – Finance Expert
We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive West Brom columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns...
Dan Plumley has insisted that there would be strings attached to any potential new loan that West Brom may look to take out ahead of January.
The Finance Expert admitted there is little debt in the club accounts, but bringing in more money would help them avoid the catastrophe of dropping into League One.
It was reported by the Daily Mail that the Baggies are in talks with MSD Holdings over a £25million loan to help Carlos Corberan in the January window.
“I class this as another complication to throw into the mix,” he exclusively told West Brom News.
“If you actually look into the accounts, they show very little debt, there is equity in the football club accounts. There’s hardly any debt, but the holding company is based in China so we can’t see that information there, we know there is a very real link to the owners because of the loan situation previously.
“It’s not that they’re debt free, it’s just the accounts probably perceive that it’s debt related to the owner and that comes with its risks. In terms of overall position, looking at that full circle and the challenge with a loan like this and if you look at where the club has come from, good years in the Premier League, parachute payments but that is now going to go, the risk of where they are on the pitch.
“The problem with this is that it adds another level of complexity, so those loans come with strings attached – interest rates, set repayment terms and it might be needed to stop them from falling further because League One would be an absolute catastrophe for that football club given everything that is going on.
“So, it’s ok funding it that way, bit you know there are strings attached and the risk of that not working out is still the biggest factor for West Brom.”
Corberan needs a lot of help with this current squad, but there is no chance that £25million would be spent in January – which begs the question, why so much?
There has been talk of other struggles within the club recently, so this is certainly something to keep an eye on over the next two months at The Hawthorns.
In other West Brom news, Chris Lepkowski has addressed rumours of the Baggies going into administration after what happened recently.