West Brom: Finance expert uses Leeds and Sunderland examples in warning to Guochuan Lai | OneFootball

Ever since the summer, we have known that the current ownership at West Bromwich Albion are open to selling the club.

Indeed, back in June, BirminghamLive reported that the club themselves had told supporters group 'Action 4 Albion' that the owners were open to the possibility of a sale.

The supporters group were set up to raise awareness of what they call the gross mismanagement of Lai.

Since then, no takeover has yet materialised, and the club have been forced to take action to improve their financial situation.

One such action was selling central defender Dara O'Shea to Premier League side Burnley when they came knocking for his signature earlier this summer.

At the time, that eased the Baggies financial woes, but only temporarily.

What is the latest news on West Brom's potential takeover?

The latest news with regards to a potential change of ownership at the Hawthorns came a few days ago, courtesy of the Daily Mail.

According to the Daily Mail, current owner Guochuan Lai is now looking to sell before the end of the year, with the club fearing that if not sold, they may have to sell further players in the January transfer window.

This would, of course, put the club in potential trouble on the pitch, and possibly see them slide towards the wrong end of the table as far as they are concerned.

In potentially positive news, West Brom are said to have been holding exploratory talks over a takeover with a number of parties from the Middle East to the United States, according to the report.

The takeover being discussed in those talks is said to be worth £50 million.

Financial experts sends warning to Guochuan Lai

Despite that £50 million being just a quarter of the £200 million that Lai paid for the club in 2016, there is a strong feeling from some that his valuation is too steep.

That view is shared by football finance guru and author of 'The Price of Football' Kieran Maguire, who believes that Lai is living in a fantasy land if he believes he can sell the Baggies for £50 million by the end of 2023.

Instead, Maguire uses previous examples from Leeds and Sunderland to come up with what he feels is a more appropriate valuation.

“I think £50 million is aspirational rather than realistic,” Maguire told Football Insider amid the above update.

“It shows that Guochuan Lai appears to be living in a fantasy world.

“The property assets are solid, but it’s not a high-value property area.

“If the club itself is not in a competitive position in the Championship by January, that’s going to make it more difficult to generate a figure of that value.

“Leeds United were bought by Andrea Radrizzani for around £50million, and with no disrespect to West Brom, Leeds have a bigger stadium, a bigger fanbase and generate more money from marketing and sponsorship.

“Sunderland were sold for around £30million and I think that is a more appropriate figure for West Brom.“