Finance expert mocks Guochuan Lai as £10m debt update on West Brom loan emerges
Kieran Maguire has warned West Brom could owe up to £10million if they don’t pay back a loan taken out by Guochuan Lai.
The Baggies’ controlling shareholder borrowed £2million from Warmfront Holdings in September 2021, which includes a five per cent interest rate per month.
Football finance expert Maguire tweeted that the debt will reach £10million by March 2025 if it is not repaid and said the Albion chief’s record for repaying loans is best described as “bobbins”.
Uneasy
This must give all those associated with West Brom an uneasy feeling as there is no way the club can afford to be racking up that much debt.
It’s shocking that Lai can take the loan out at such a high-interest rate on the deal because it’s the club that will suffer in the end and it should be better protected by the authorities.
There is currently a fan-led Review of football governance being undertaken in response to long-standing concerns about club ownership and financial sustainability.
But perhaps by the time the benefits of the review come into force, it could already be too late for West Brom as its very existence is currently hanging by a thread and isn’t being talked about enough.
The fact that clubs with such a rich history like Albion can be abused and run so poorly in this day and age when there is so much money being pumped into football is, quite frankly, shocking and needs sorting out.
The issues are also having an impact on results on the pitch, as the club has largely stagnated over the past couple of seasons and manager Carlos Corberan’s hands are currently tied as to who he can bring in to strengthen his side, with that problem looking unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
In other West Brom news, a journalist has been left surprised by the club’s willingness to let a player leave this summer.