Guochuan Lai could receive as much as £100million if a takeover goes through at West Brom, according to Kieran Maguire.
Speaking on The Price of Football podcast on Thursday (18 January, 58:20), the football finance expert said the Baggies’ controlling shareholder is probably asking for more than that figure after he “got his trousers taken down” in paying well over £200million for the club in 2016.
He compared the situation to when Premier League side Bournemouth were sold for £120million in 2022, but he added that Albion have a bigger fanbase and stadium despite competing in the league below.
“I think in its present form, it’s playing good football, good chance of getting into the playoffs, I think he could quite confidently get the thick end of £100million,” said Maguire.
“I think he’s probably asking for more because Bournemouth were bought having just got into the Premier League for £115million to £120million. There is clearly a bit of a gamble involved where West Brom are presently in the Championship.
“But this is no disrespect to Bournemouth, West Brom have got a bigger fanbase, they’ve got a big stadium, they’ve got some positives going for them, which are slightly more complicated from the Bournemouth point of view. I think he paid well over £200million, but I think he got his trousers taken down.”
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Deserves very little
The saga surrounding the potential takeover at West Brom continues to rumble on despite the situation looking a little bit brighter than it perhaps did a few months ago.
There are a few different parties interested in taking over the club and talks are ongoing to try and ensure a deal can take place in the near future.
Although Lai paid more than £200million to take a majority share in West Brom eight years ago, he deserves nowhere near that figure after the way the club has been managed during that time.
The debts have kept racking up over the past few years and manager Carlos Corberan has had to move on a number of his best players just to keep the lights on at the Hawthorns.
The focus now just has to be on ensuring a deal can be reached to allow everyone associated with Albion to put all of the concerns of the past few months behind them and start moving forward.
In other West Brom news, Caleb Taylor has sent a message as an Albion exit has been confirmed.
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