[ad_1]
West Brom ‘hold talks with American consortium over £150m takeover’ amid fans’ criticism of the board’s lack of investment.. and deal could allow Slaven Bilic a chance to strengthen his struggling squad in the January window
- Majority shareholder Guochuan Lai has received criticism for a lack of spending
- But now it is said he would consider selling the club for £150m to the consortium
- A 15 per cent minority stake has also been discussed as part of negotiations
- Boss Slaven Bilic was given less than £50m to spend in the summer window
West Brom have been in talks with an American consortium over a potential £150million takeover of the club, according to reports.
Majority shareholder Guochuan Lai and the current ownership have received criticism from some sections of the fanbase over what has been deemed insufficient investment in the squad since completing their £170m takeover in September 2016.
Now according to The Telegraph, Lai – who is based in China – would consider taking a £20m hit to allow the consortium to complete a full takeover, while a minority stake of up to 15 per cent has also reportedly been discussed with chief executive Xu Keas as an alternative in the negotiations.
West Brom have been in talks with an American consortium over a potential £150m takeover
Majority shareholder Guochuan Lai has been criticised for a perceived lack of investment
The report adds Lai turned down an offer from the interested party earlier this year, who themselves are reportedly unwilling to match the valuation with the club’s future in the Premier League far from certain given their current position of 19th in the table.
It therefore remains unclear whether a deal will go through at all, but if there is a relatively swift and successful conclusion to negotiations, that could spell some positive news for Baggies fans and head coach Slaven Bilic ahead of the January transfer window.
Bilic was given a transfer budget of less than £50m in the summer after obtaining promotion from the Championship with The Hawthorns club, with the amount severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Baggies boss Slaven Bilic was given less than £50m to spend following their promotion
The amount still allowed the West Midlands side to bring in exciting West Ham prospect Grady Diangana for £20m, complete a £15m deal with Huddersfield for Karlan Grant and sign midfield star Matheus Pereira on a £9m permanent deal from Sporting Lisbon.
But fans will be hoping that further investment can help lift the club out of the bottom three, with the current board having spent just £86.3m since Lai bought the club from former chairman Jeremy Peace more than four years ago.
That is in stark contrast to the £100m that Fulham invested in the summer of 2018 before their ill-fated spell in the top-flight that season, while Aston Villa had an outlay of more than £130m on 12 players last summer following their promotion before another £84m was spent in the last transfer window.
The club still managed to invest in Grady Diangana (left) and Karlan Grant in the summer
But fans will
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
