Guochuan Lai was heavily criticised during his time at West Brom.

Callum O'Connell

Fri 29 December 2023 17:40, UK

Fresh news on the ongoing takeover of West Brom is surely not far away after Nicola Richards, the MP for West Bromwich East, insisted she would support the takeover bid.

Richards shared that she is working alongside Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, to safeguard the long-term future of the club amid the ongoing takeover talks.

This comes after The Telegraph journalist John Percy reported [12 December] ] that Guochuan Lai would decide on a preferred bidder by 22 December, although that date has now passed with no update.

Taking to Twitter on 29 December, Richards wrote: “Great to work with Action For Albion and shareholders to campaign for the regulator of English football.

“I’ll be supporting the legislation when it comes to Parliament next year, and supporting a takeover of the club alongside Andy Street so we can safeguard our long-term future.”

With the date for a preferred bidder to be selected now having passed, we surely cannot be far away from a decision being made by the controlling investors at West Brom, and the involvement of Richards and Street should serve as a sign that the deal will be done.

A combination of government support and pressure from Action for Albion should ensure that further progress is made to find a solution.

It may even be that the deadline for a preferred bidder has been met without the information becoming public as of yet following the Percy update, with supporters hopeful that a deal can be agreed upon as quickly as possible.

Initial reports had suggested there was hope of completion before the January transfer window, but with that now extremely unlikely given the proximity of that date, any update on the progress of the ongoing takeover talks would be appreciated by the fans.

Hopefully, the government intervention in the deal will help to assist its progress and ensure everything goes through smoothly in the best interests of West Brom.

In other West Brom news, a senior Albion man could be set for a return from injury.