West Brom are seemingly edging towards a takeover ahead of the New Year, and with a front-runner to buyout the club.
There’s been talk of a West Brom takeover for a while now and with the club’s finances looking they’re just about to run dry, it seems like new owners are edging closer.
Earlier this week, John Percy revealed that there’s been positive movement on the takeover front and that Guochuan Lai was close to naming his preferred bidder and handing proceedings over to the Football League.
And now, Express & Star have reported that an unnamed US group are ‘serious contenders’ to takeover from Lai, after Percy previously revealed that a US group and a Nigerian group were the two front-runners to take over at The Hawthorns.
The same report also reveals that West Brom are ‘on the market for a value of around £30million-£35million’, though that doesn’t include the club’s debts and loans, taking the actual figure to ‘around’ £60million.
Lastly, Express & Star also report that, whilst a fire sale in January isn’t necessary, the club will have to look at reducing the wage bill whether new owners come in or not, with the Baggies ready to consider any reasonable transfer offers that come in.
It looks like a takeover is being eyed up for before the end of next month.
West Brom takeover comes just in the nick of time
West Brom are about to enter a perilous 2024. A takeover is needed to save the future of the club and thankfully, it looks like a takeover of moving along steadily.
Still, nothing is official until it’s official.
There’s still an anxious wait for the club but Lai certainly looks to be moving things forward, potentially bringing an end to his controversial reign in the coming weeks.
Ideally, West Brom will want to see a takeover concluded as early as possible next month, with Carlos Corberan surely hoping to be given some kind of resources for the winter window, and also hoping that he doesn’t lose too many of his key players.
West Brom’s squad remains relatively light in terms of depth, but high in quality, so any player sales would hurt Corberan and his side’s promotion credentials this season.
The Baggies return to Championship action at home vs managerless Stoke City this weekend in what will prove to be another winnable game for West Brom as they look to cement their place in the top six.
West Brom currently sit in 5th place of the Championship table compared to the Potters in 19th.