West Brom takeover update after club ‘hold talks’ with parties from Middle East

West Bromwich Albion are reportedly confident a takeover deal can be agreed this year.

Albion are looking for a new owner, with Guochuan Lai looking to sell the club ‘before the end of the year’.

That’s according to The Telegraph, which claims that the West Midlands club has held ‘exploratory discussions’ with parties from the US and Middle East.

The report states that the club are hoping for a deal in the region of £50 million. The hunt for a new owner has now intensified after the club’s summer sales were reportedly insufficient.

Lai is looking to sell the club for a quarter of the £200m he bought it for in 2016.

And a source has now reportedly told Football Insider that Albion are confident a deal can be agreed this year and that a bidder can be found in ‘the next few months’.

But finance expert Kieran Maguire also told the website that the £50 million asking price is not realistic. He said that a £30million asking price would be a ‘more realistic’.

He said: “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.”