Guochuan Lai set for West Brom letter as concerns grow at The Hawthorns
West Brom controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai is set to receive a letter from fan group Action for Albion and Shareholders For Albion along with requests for a meeting with him and sole representative on the board Xu Ke, according to the Daily Mail.
Lai has come under fire from supporters recently for failing to pay back the £4.95million loan he owes the club at three separate deadlines.
However, Lai’s sole representative on the board, Ke, is set to fly to China to meet with him this week and will take the letter with him, which was also signed by Albion’s supporters’ club and former players’ association.
The Daily Mail (Monday 3 April, page 63) wrote: “West Brom fan group leaders united this week to ask majority shareholder Guochuan Lai to state his intentions for the club with concerns growing.
“With Albion’s annual accounts published late last week, fears are growing for the Championship club, who were forced to reiterate Lai’s apparent intention to repay multi-million loans taken from the club.
“On Friday Albion’s fan group Action For Albion joined forces with the club’s small shareholder group Shareholder For Albion, to hand deliver a letter to Lai and ask for a meeting with him and his sole representative on the board, former CEO Xu Ke.
“Ke is due to fly to China to meet with Lai in the coming weeks, and will take the letter with him.
“The letter was also signed by the Albion’s supporters club and former players’ association.”
Stepping stone
After promises failing to have been met time after time, it seems like the Action For Albion and Shareholders For Albion groups have taken matters into their own hands.
There is next to no trust from the West Brom faithful in their controlling shareholder, and writing a letter such as this to him seems to be the last straw.
The fact that Ke is flying to China to meet with Lai is a positive sign and hopefully shows that the letter is being taken seriously by the pair.
Lai’s lack of transparency and communications has been a major stumbling block, so a meeting with him in person could hopefully clarify many of the burning questions that Baggies fans hold.
Updates are needed, and hopefully, a mixture of the letter and an upcoming meeting can spark the controlling shareholder into resolving his issues with the West Midlands club in the near future.
In other West Brom news, Corberan has revealed that Dara O’Shea is likely to be ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.