A number of parties are in negotiations to acquire the Baggies, and Palmer feels that a deal must be completed by the beginning of 2024.
There’s a perception that anyone can beat anybody in the second division of English football, barring a few anomalies like Sheffield Wednesday failing to win and Leicester City and Ipswich Town dominating the automatic promotion spots.
There are just three points separating Leeds United in third place from Blackburn Rovers in eleventh, and those same points are only eight points separating Huddersfield Town in twenty-first place from their West Yorkshire rivals.
West Bromwich Albion, who are among the teams in the top six of the league going into this weekend’s play, are a team that, in spite of all of their off-field issues, are getting along well on the field.
What is the situation at West Brom right now?
Due to their owner Guochuan Lai’s disappearance, West Brom does not have much cash on hand as their Premier League parachute payments ran out this past summer.
To balance the books, the team sold defender Dara O’Shea to Burnley, but they refused to sell anyone else, even though they were interested in Jed Wallace, John Swift, and Brandon Thomas-Asante.
However, head coach Carlos Corberan was only able to bring in three new players this summer. With virtually no money at The Hawthorns—the team had to borrow £20 million from MSD Holdings in late 2022 to cover operating expenses—a takeover is now more important than ever.
According to John Percy of The Telegraph, Chinese businessman Lai, who purchased Albion from Jeremy Peace in 2016, is reportedly happy to sell up. His fellow national and club director Xu Ke is in charge of the sale process, and there are potential buyers.
Consortiums from the US and the Middle East have expressed interest in acquiring the team. If a deal is not reached before the beginning of 2024, Corberan runs the risk of losing some of his best players to other teams in an effort to raise money.
Is a January takeover necessary for West Brom to be a contender for the play-offs?
Even though West Brom is currently ranked second in the Championship table, their problems are fairly obvious given that the January transfer window, when the vultures may be circling once more, is only two months away.
And in order to give Corberan the best opportunity to strengthen his options for the second half of the season, Carlton Palmer—who was born in the Black Country and began his playing career at the Baggies before going on to become an England international—thinks it’s critical that Lai forces through a takeover of the team.
Speaking to Football League World, Palmer stated, “West Bromwich Albion have had a solid start to the new season, currently sat in sixth place, only two points off Leeds United in third place.”
“The club’s chances of promotion would be greatly increased if the takeover could be finalized in time for the January transfer window.
“I still think Leeds and Leicester will get promoted automatically, but being able to add to the squad in January could help them secure a place in the play-offs, and we all know how much of a lottery the play-offs can be, so they would have as good a chance as anyone who secures a play-off spot.”
