Guochuan Lai exit could finally be close after West Brom takeover news
Few clubs in the Championship have been as financially restricted as West Brom in recent years, with the Baggies having little to no money to spend in the last few transfer windows.
This summer, Carlos Corberan was restricted to shopping in the free agent and loan markets as he looked to prepare his squad for another play-off push even after selling Dara O’Shea to Burnley for a large fee, he wasn’t given any money to spend on transfer fees.
But it looks like after years of the Baggies slowly going backwards, Guochuan Lai could finally be set to depart The Hawthorns given the latest news surrounding a potential takeover of the Albion.
Albion managing director Mark Miles confirmed in the Albion Assembly Meeting Minutes, that NDAs are in place with talks ongoing with numerous parties that are interested in potentially taking over the Baggies, having early confirmed that talks had begun over a potential £35million sale [Express & Star, 26 September].
Finance expert Dan Plumley suggested that the introduction of NDAs into the process suggests that a deal is “picking up pace” with talks and due diligence likely ongoing from both sides to decide whether or not a deal is correct for them.
While Miles suggested that a deal would likely be completed before the end of the Championship season, it looks as though West Brom are heading in the right direction to finally see Lai leave The Hawthorns and begin a new era under new ownership.
There had been reports in the last month that the Baggies were discussing a potential deal with parties both in the Middle East and the United States, with the club initially hoping that a takeover could be completed for around £50 million [Daily Mail, 20 September].
These processes do take time and as we’ve seen at clubs across the country, they don’t always go off without a hitch, but the introduction of NDAs into the process seems to suggest that a potential new owner has begun to act upon their initial interest.
Hopefully, the new owner of the Baggies will be able to provide the funding to finally allow West Brom to kick on as currently they have an excellent manager and several very talented players who just need a couple of quality additions to take them to the next level.
Now a deal just has to be completed quickly and efficiently, but Albion cannot afford to jump from one damaging ownership model, straight into a new one.
In other West Brom news, Irish media have praised the energy that Jayson Molumby brought to their game against Gibraltar