West Brom loan deadline extended by Guochuan Lai as club release statement
Guochuan Lai has extended the deadline by which he is to pay back a £4.95million loan to West Brom, a club statement has confirmed.
Albion directors are still in dialogue with the club chairman over repayments which were due to be repaid in full, with interest, by 31 December.
Wisdom Smart Corporation Limited, who took out the loan for Lai, have now set a deadline of early in the new year for the money to be repaid to the football club as promised.
On 1 December, West Brom CEO Ron Gourlay had assured fans that Lai would repay said loan on time but a month on, the news is completely the opposite.
“He said he has made it clear in board meetings, including those prior to the publication of Albion’s accounts in June, that this debt must be repaid so it can be reinvested,” the club website stated.
Very concerning
Carlos Corberan will not be thrilled to hear this latest development as he was ready and possibly even promised a healthy January transfer budget to help the Baggies remain on the up.
The Spaniard has done a terrific job in stabilising the ship on the field and now he needs the powers that be off it to follow suit and this news does the opposite of that.
Lai will know how important this money is to West Brom and their chances of making a charge up the Championship table and that the fans will want it back where it belongs as soon as possible.
Luckily, Corberan has done enough with the group of players he has to get them into form and away from the relegation zone so they should be fine to stay up at the very least.
The Hawthorns has been a very unharmonious place for some time and repaying this money would go a long way for some.
In other West Brom news, this Albion coach sent a touching Twitter message after Cristiano Ronaldo announced his new club.