"Does make me rather wary" - West Brom fan pundit reacts to the latest Baggies takeover news | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

A change of ownership at West Bromwich Albion is looking more and more likely, with reports suggesting there are three main candidates to get the deal done.

The current owner, Chinese businessman Guochuan Lai, bought a majority stake in the club for £175 million back in 2016. The club has struggled with financial issues and a lack of a budget over the last few seasons.

According to The Athletic, there are three main contenders to purchase Lai's controlling stake in the club. The contenders are a group that's been brought together by English sports lawyer Chris Farnell, Armenian businessman Roman Gevorkyan, and his Noah Football Group, and a Florida-based businessman named Shilen Patel.

Patel is reported to be leading the race. He is the apparent favoured option of people inside the club, as well as West Brom's main creditors, MSD Partners. But there is still belief from Farnell's camp that they have a good chance. He and potential business partner Alex Hearn, who Lai owes over £4 million after borrowing £2 million from him in 2021, are scheduled to head over to China to try and get a deal done. BBC journalist Steve Hermon has said that they aren't close to getting over the line.

At this point, there isn't any certainty about who will next control the Baggies, but all of this reporting isn't getting FLW'sWest Brom fan pundit too excited.

FLW's West Brom fan pundit Matt Smith has said that he is remaining cautious about all the talk surrounding the potential takeover of the Baggies.

He said: "When it comes to the takeover of any club, especially Albion, I'm always very reluctant to believe what's out there. You see a lot of con men that bang their drums about takeovers and interest in clubs, and their interest often falls through.

"So I do take these rumours with a pinch of salt. Because this is all being done in public, and it's all coming out does make me rather wary of Chris Farnell and Alex Hearn. Given his history, I'm a little cautious of Farnell; the clubs he's been involved in, the failed takeover he's been involved in, it just doesn't fill me with confidence whatsoever."

Smith added that he doubts that the Farnell and Hearn pairing, who are also said to have Egyptian businessman Mohamed Elkashashy as a part of their group, would be the best option for Albion.

"Obviously, I don't know what they would bring to the club," said FLW'sWest Brom fan pundit. "I don't know what the financial situation would be like, but it doesn't fill me with confidence.

"Certainly Mr Patel seems to be a little more encouraging. What you hear is what you want to hear, so I don't know if they [Farnell and Hearn] would be the preferred option for sure."

West Brom fans are right to be apprehensive about takeover situation

The club, for all the noise and bad finances, are in a very good position in the league. Carlos Corberan has set them up to be a strong contender for one of the four play-off places, and this is with them being on a tight budget.

Fans who will be thinking 'once we get a new owner then we're going to be back to being a Premier League staple' aren't necessarily wrong to think that way, but it's not a guarantee. For every Manchester City takeover, there is a Reading; and it's probably a lower success rate than you'd maybe first think.

They need to make sure that the owners are well-intentioned, and that they aren't just seeing it as a business opportunity. Owning a football club that isn't in the Premier League can be a good way to turn a large fortune into a small one. If an owner comes in who's in it to improve their bank balance, then once they realise that they may not be raking it in, they could slow the funding that's going into the club.