West Brom: Action For Albion responds to ‘impossible’ Guochuan Lai claim amid latest takeover talk
Action For Albion insists it is “impossible” for Guochuan Lai to stay at The Hawthorns helm in the hope of West Brom earning promotion.
West Brom are in talks with numerous parties, including groups from Nigeria and America, over buying out majority shareholder Lai [The Telegraph, 29 November].
Albion also confirmed earlier this week that an additional loan has been taken out to help with the day-to-day running of the club.
That suggests a takeover is not as close to completion as many had hoped, but Action for Albion does not believe Lai is looking to delay a deal.
“As for the people that think Lai might hold out and wait for the possibility of promotion… that’s impossible,” the fan group posted on Twitter [30 November].
“We won’t have enough money to last the season, and he’d end up with nothing. He has to sell now. He knows that.
“Also just to add, with regard to why money is required. In the last accounts we made a small profit.
“That was with £28m parachute payments. We don’t have that this season, so it’s not inconceivable that the £20m plus £6m for [Dara] O’Shea has now been used. The clock is ticking.”
Cash windfall possible
This has been a very interesting week for Albion both on and off the field. On it, they have maintained their superb form to find themselves fifth in the Championship.
Off it, it has emerged that a Nigerian party has now entered the race to take over the club, while news of an additional loan being taken out was met with a mixed reaction.
Nobody really expected Albion to be among the favourites to earn promotion this season, but that is now the case as the win over Cardiff City in midweek cemented their top-six credentials.
Lai knows full well that West Brom will receive a huge payment should they make it back to the Premier League, with the club’s valuation also no doubt shooting up.
This latest loan seems to be a last resort, however, and new owners are needed right now if the club is not going to bleed out financially.
Ideally, that would be before the January transfer window, but as long as Lai is bought out at some point in the early part of 2024, that is all that really matters.
In other West Brom news, journalist John Percy has mooted “uncertainty” regarding Carlos Corberan amid the latest goings out at The Hawthorns.