West Brom received some welcome off-field news last week, as they moved a step closer to a takeover of the club.
Guochuan Lai has been owner of the Baggies, since completing a purchase of the club in the summer of 2016.
Now however, it seems as though the Chinese businessman’s time in charge at The Hawthorns, is coming to an end.
It was announced last Thursday, that Florida-based businessman Shilen Patel has agreed a deal to buy a controlling stake in West Brom.
Now, with the details behind that deal becoming clear, the loss being made by Lai on the club has been explained.
Football finance expert on West Brom takeover
With the agreement for Patel to takeover at The Hawthorns, Lai is now set to take a lot less out of the club, than he put in.
That has now been explained by Football Finance Expert Kieran Maguire, who has explained the impact of the deal on the now former West Brom owner.
Speaking about the takeover on The Price of Football podcast, Maguire said:
“What we have in respect of West Brom is that there is an approved deal in terms of, Guochuan Lai has agreed to sell, and he’s agreed to sell to somebody called Shilen Patel, who has a part interest in Bologna.
“It looks as if the deal, Guochuan Lai bought West Bromwich Albion for £200million, it looks as if he’s selling the club for 20(million), but also handing over £40million worth of debt.
“So he effectively is picking up a £60millon tab. So Guochuan Lai is going to have to take a big cut in this, and the new owner is going to pay in three instalments.”
On the pitch, Carlos Corberan‘s side still sit fifth in the Championship table. They are next in action on Saturday afternoon, with a trip to The MKM Stadium to face Hull City.
Takeover a big relief for Baggies fans
The news of the takeover of the club by Shilen Patel will have been a big relief for West Brom supporters.
Corberan has one remarkably well to keep the club competitive on the pitch in recent times.
Off it though, there has been a great deal of financial uncertainty around The Hawthorns. Indeed, that has even led to some questioning the future of the club.
Meanwhile, there has been little investment in the club in recent times when it comes to the transfer market.
That too has arguably hindered West Brom in their pursuit of promotion back to the Premier League.
But with the takeover now done, that can hopefully change. Supporters will be optimistic of more stability off the pitch, as well as greater investment in the squad.
Should that happen, they have a good chance to get themselves in an even stronger position than they already are.
This deal has therefore understandably been met with a great deal of excitement by West Brom fans.
Indeed, if it plays out as they hope it will, there may not be too many who are concerned about how this impacts Lai, given what the Baggies have had to deal with under his ownership.