Kieran Maguire slams ’embarrassing’ Guochuan Lai as £50m West Brom deal finalised
Guochuan Lai’s ownership of West Brom has been an ’embarrassment’ and new owners will aim to take the club back to the Premier League.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that an imminent takeover deal at The Hawthorns is likely to be valued at around £50million.
According to The Telegraph, West Brom are edging closer towards a sale with Lai set to choose a preferred bidder in the coming days.
It is understood that there are three consortiums still in the running to complete a takeover deal, but none have yet been granted exclusivity by the Albion owner.
One consortium is reportedly from the United States, while one bidding group is from Nigeria.
Lai took majority control of West Brom in 2016 but has fractured his relationship with the club’s fanbase due to his poor ownership of the club and multiple unpaid loans.
The Chinese businessman paid over £200million to acquire Jeremy Peace’s shares in the club, but he is set to suffer a huge drop in value when a takeover deal is struck.
Maguire believes a deal will be valued at around £50million, but he warned fans that change does not directly relate to improvement.
“Guochuan Lai’s ownership period at The Hawthorns has been an embarrassment,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“He doesn’t understand football and doesn’t understand football culture.
“He has been an absent owner at West Brom, which was run fairly successfully before Jeremy Peace decided to cash in and protect himself rather than the future of the club.
“So new owners are exciting for West Brom and potentially it’s going to cost them around £50million.
“We can hope that they will be better but change is not always the same as improvement.
“Their aim will be returning West Brom to the Premier League.“
In other news, Kieran Maguire backs new West Brom deal to stop January firesale