West Bromwich Albion podcaster and journalist Chris Lepkowski has been sharing his thoughts on the latest reports concerning a potential takeover of the Midlands club.
This comes after Lepkowski recently co-hosted the latest episode of West Brom-themed podcast The Liquidator where he spoke about the biggest talking points surrounding Slaven Bilic’s side.
After it was recently reported that up to six parties are interested in buying West Brom from current owner Guochuan Lai, who could potentially struggle in getting the £150 million asking price for the club, Lepkowski had this to say on the matter.
He said: “We said this last week, that it’s going to be a slow burner, this isn’t going to be something that’s resolved in a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months, it will drag on now.
“The game of poker that we can’t see is, of course, how much the owners are willing to accept [for] the club.
“[The] indications are at the moment that the £150 million that the owners have reportedly wanted and, by the way, The Athletic who are another very respected source in all of this have said £175 million, I think the owners are going to really, really struggle to get that at the moment.
“I think that this is going to drag on for a while because I cannot imagine anyone being close to the £150 million that the club are looking for, but equally, it is the first indication that we are perhaps seeing the beginning of the end of this particular era of ownership.”
Are you confident a takeover will happen before the end of the season?
Yes
No
According to the Daily Mail, West Brom ‘have already held talks with at least three of the groups, two of which are based in the United States, and discussions are ongoing.’
They also claim that despite Lai spending £200 million for the club from former owner Jeremy Peace back in 2016, the effects of the viral pandemic mean that Lai ‘may have to accept a fee closer to the £100m mark’ for the Midlands club.
TIF Thoughts on Chris Lepkowski’s comments on the potential takeover…
It appears that West Brom fans should not hold their breath for a swift conclusion to a potential takeover of their club in the near future.
When you take into consideration that Newcastle United’s takeover fell through back in July because of the ‘prolonged process’ to give the deal the green light, it makes sense for the West Brom fans to be wary and patient with any potential future takeover.