West Bromwich Albion journalist Joe Masi has been sharing his thoughts on the current ownership at the Midlands club and the possibility of the club being sold in the near future.
This comes after Masi co-hosted a recent episode of the Express & Star’s West Brom-themed podcast, Baggies Broadcast, where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the club.
On the subject of West Brom’s ownership and the current situation surrounding a potential sale of the club from CEO Guochuan Lai, Masi had this to say on the matter.
He said: “We know Guochuan wants to sell, we know that for a fact.
“I’m starting to think he’s getting more desperate to sell, if I’m being honest, from things I hear – which is a concern because you don’t want him to just sell to anyone. He definitely wants to sell, he is probably getting a bit more desperate to sell, I think that’s probably fair to assume, but as far as I’m aware, nothing is close.
“There’s a massive issue with the valuation of Albion, which we’ve said a million times before. Obviously, Lai bought it for the best part of £200 million; I think there are people interested in buying it for roughly half that, but it’s a long way away.
“From what I gather, and I could be wrong, but from what I gather, there’s nothing imminent.”
West Brom were taken over by a Chinese investment group back in 2016 from former chairman Jeremy Peace with Lai at the head of the deal.
TIF Thoughts on Joe Masi’s comments on a potential club sale…
Back in January, it was reported by the Daily Mail that three potential new buyers were circling a possible takeover of the Midlands club from Lai, who had reported concerns over the club’s ability to remain in the Premier League beyond this season.
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Given how West Brom are currently sat in 19th place in the Premier League table on 21 points after winning just four of the 30 league games they’ve played so far this season, drawing nine and losing 17 in the process, this could make it harder for Lai to work out a deal to sell the club that he may have originally wanted.
Moving forward, if West Brom are relegated by the end of the season, this could force Lai into selling the club if there are any interested buyers around.
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