West Brom are in talks with various prospective investors about the potential of a takeover after a disastrous regime under Guochuan Lai
That West Bromwich Albion are experimenting in the hope of welcoming new investment and potential new owners is as important as music to the ears of the club’s passionate fans.
There is no Albion fan left who will support Guochuan Lai’s leadership of the club and disapprove of the idea of a new direction that – hopefully – brings long-term security.
The grass isn’t always greener when it comes to taking over a football club, but in Albion’s case, the grass is burned.
The £20m loan it took out before Christmas from lender MSD Holdings is large but not limitless and with the amount coming unlike what has been done before, the means to repay it at of a four-year contract is so high that it makes people doubt the club’s stability off the field.
This is extremely worrying.
Albion have brought in a number of senior players this summer and in terms of recruitment, this has been the quietest end-of-season transfer window they have overseen for many years.
Bids were rejected and interest from other clubs for their key players was also rejected, including Brandon Thomas-Asante and – as the Telegraph reports – Middlesbrough’s Jed Wallace, But these transfer decisions come at a high price in the long run.
It is completely understandable that Albion want to give Carlos Corberan every opportunity to inspire a successful season on the pitch.
Good form increases their chances of promotion and with it the prospect of external interest in the club generally increases, but in the immediate term, these results need to appear, as Albion’s spending is currently very significant.
Clearly, this is not a sustainable situation – for Albion or Lai, who have not returned to the Hawthorns for more than 18 months.
He has also failed to pay back the £5m he is owed, which was initially promised in the January transfer window and then vaguely in early 2023.
Speculation about offshore corporations expressed interest in Albion, which is priced at less than a third of their asking price.
was purchased in 2016, which is both important and encouraging.
The deal is almost completed, the sad reality is that Albion’s overall situation in the transfer market will be weaker.
Corberan praised the club’s decision-makers after the transfer deadline for standing their ground and protecting the team’s competitiveness, but it allowed Albion to stick together for several months to try to achieve get something.
The situation may change again in the new year.
There is always an element of venturing into the unknown when a takeover takes place.
A large proportion of Albion fans are, quite understandably, excited about what lies ahead as Jeremy Peace sells a club that is already established in the Premier League and has the potential to grow further with decisions and the right investment.
Of course, this investment never happened and it hasn’t happened for seven years.
However, the current situation is bleak and everyone associated with Albion is longing for the blanket of comfort they have been deprived of for some time.
When that day comes, hopefully in the not too distant future, emotions will be more relieved than excited.