Kieran Maguire shares £10m West Brom news amid ‘twitchy’ loan agreement
Kieran Maguire has shared that the loan taken out by the West Brom ownership group from MSD Holdings on 27 November is in the region of £8-10million.
The finance expert has also claimed that the loan will go directly towards paying the players’ wages, with November a particularly tricky financial month for football clubs.
It was announced on 27 November that West Bromwich Albion Group Limited has increased the previous £20million loan to support the ongoing funding of the football club.
Speaking on The Price of Football podcast [30 November], Maguire discussed the incoming loan taken out by West Bromwich Albion Group Limited from MSD Holdings, and the reasons for doing so.
“MSD Holdings did lend £20million to the West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, and West Bromwich Albion Group have borrowed more money,” shared Maguire, “Now, we don’t know how much, but it seems to be probably in the region of £8-10million and it’s there to pay the wages.
“This always makes me slightly twitchy because if a football club is not generating enough money… November is a dreadful month for football clubs. You have the international break, so that’s one weekend not taking place, and you’re only actually selling a few thousand tickets for an individual match.
“West Bromwich Albion are likely to have a wage bill of probably in the region of £18-20million, and they’re probably generating six or seven thousand tickets at £20 a piece. They’ll be generating no cash around this time of year, so therefore it’s quite a challenging month.”
Concerns starting to rise
The news seems to be far from good for fans of West Brom, seeing their club plunged into further debt on top of the already large sum owed to various lenders.
This could cast doubt over the ongoing takeover talks with further debt being racked up which will ultimately need paying off one way or another, regardless of whether prospective new owners do take over at The Hawthorns.
The takeover prospects already seemed a complicated process given the financial situation West Brom find themselves in, with a desperate need to balance the books and pay off debts now becoming increasingly vital for the future of the club.
Maguire’s assessment of the situation points towards the loan being more necessary than greedy, but it still represents a difficult time for the club and a lack of certainty surrounding the ownership situation.
In other West Brom news, the prospective owners have been proved spot on.