West Brom 'in talks with possible buyers to seal takeover before 2024'

09/20/2023 Soccer

West Brom ‘in talks with multiple possible buyers to seal £50m takeover before 2024’ – with current owner Guochuan Lai looking to sell up as club ‘look at options from America and the Middle East’ amid financial problems

  • West Brom are reportedly in talks with multiple possible takeover buyers
  • The financially troubled club want to sell fast to avoid a January firesale of stars
  • Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off! 

West Bromwich Albion are reportedly stepping up their search for a new owner, with current one Guochuan Lai looking to sell before the end of the year. 

The Championship club has held exploratory discussions with parties from the Middle East and the United States and are hoping for a takeover worth around £50million. 

West Brom hope to sell before the next transfer window in order to avoid having to sell off even more talent to soothe their financial woes. 

Dara O’Shea departed the side for Burnley in the summer for a fee below his release clause.

There are concerns their Championship status could come under threat should they have to sell off more first-teamers for a slashed price. 

West Brom owner Guochuan Lai has only been seen once at the Hawthorns since 2018

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Now, their search for a new owner has intensified after their summer sales were insufficient, as reported by The Telegraph. 

Lai is loathed by many fans, considering he has only been seen at the Hawthorns once since 2018. 

He took over the club for £200m in 2016 but is now looking to sell it for a quarter of the price. 

Fans demanded a meeting with him last season as they were anxious to know when he would repay a £5m loan, taken out of the club in March 2021. 

The club’s parent company also took a £20m, four-year loan in December 2022 to ‘finance general business operations’. 

Parachute payments from the Premier League have expired, leaving the club in a more precarious place than they would like to be. 

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

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