West Brom transfer stance in January shared by Chris Lepkowski after loan development
Chris Lepkowski says he has been told by someone in the know that it is a “racing cert” West Brom will be forced to sell players if a takeover does not go through beforehand.
Albion announced on Monday (27 November) they have taken out an additional loan with US investment group MSD Holdings, but it has not been revealed how much extra money they have obtained.
The new loan will effectively help to keep the club ticking along while majority shareholder Guochuan Lai waits for a takeover to go through at some point – if it ever does.
That could now mean West Brom no longer have to cash in on a player or two in the new year, but Lepkowski is not so sure if that will be the case.
When it was put to him on Twitter [27 November] that West Brom are susceptible to losing some key players in January, the former Birmingham Mail journalist replied: “Somebody who knows a thing or two about our accounts told me this would be a racing cert come January.
“Guess time will tell. And maybe this will protect against that. But I’m not hopeful.”
Yet more debt
Having already borrowed £20million from MSD Holdings last December, Albion are simply piling on more debts for the next owners to inherit.
It is very much short-term gain for long-term pain, as while it would be nice to retain key players in January, money will ultimately have to be found at some point.
The new backers, assuming any follow through with their initial interest, will of course look to put money into the club.
However, if they are having to pay back millions and millions of pounds that has been borrowed prior to their takeover, that means less money going on the playing squad.
Lai’s stance is quite clear in that he is not willing to put any more money in, which means the squad will only be depleted, rather than strengthened, over the coming windows.
It is looking increasingly like the club are putting all their eggs in one basket, knowing that promotion is now an achievable aim this season under Carlos Corberan.
Let’s just hope those supposedly in talks to buy out Lai are not put off by this latest development.
In other West Brom news, Corberan has given a “100%” verdict on the subject of Albion’s soon-to-be out-of-contract players.