That West Bromwich Albion are putting the feelers out in the hope of welcoming fresh investment and prospective new ownership is as essential as it is music to the ears of the club's beleaguered fanbase. There isn't a single Albion supporter left who would endorse Guochuan Lai's stewardship of the club, and who wouldn't celebrate the idea of new leadership which would - hopefully - bring long-term security.
The grass isn't always greener when it comes to football club takeovers, but in Albion's case the grass is scorched. The £20m loan they took out before Christmas, from lenders MSD Holdings, is sizeable but not infinite and, with the incoming monies nothing like what has gone before, the means with which to repay it over the course of the four-year agreement are such that it's plunged the club's off-field stability into doubt.
It's enormously concerning. Albion did move on senior personnel in summer and, in terms of recruitment, it was the quietest close-season transfer window they've overseen for many years. Offers were batted away and interest from other clubs in their key players was spurned, namely in Brandon Thomas-Asante and - as the Telegraph reports - in Jed Wallace from Middlesbrough, but there is a long-term cost to those transfer decisions.
It's entirely understandable that Albion would want to give Carlos Corberan every chance of inspiring a successful season on the pitch. Strong form on it heightens their chances of promotion, and with that the prospect of outside interest in the club as a whole grows, too, but in the short term those results have to emerge, because Albion's outgoings currently are significant.
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Clearly, it's not a sustainable situation - for Albion, or Lai, who hasn't returned to The Hawthorns in well over 18 months. He hasn't returned the £5m he owes, either, which was promised initially in time for the January transfer window and then, vaguely at some stage in early 2023. Speculation relating to overseas consortia taking an interest in Albion, available for less than a third of what they were purchased for in 2016, is as important as it is encouraging.
If Albion were to begin 2024 with Lai still clutching to the helm and with no agreement close to being struck, the sad reality is that Albion's overall situation in the transfer market will be weaker. Corberan praised the club's decision makers in the aftermath of transfer deadline day for standing firm and protecting the competitiveness of the squad, but that's bought Albion a few months of sticking together in order to try and achieve something. The picture could change again in the New Year.
There's always an element of venturing into the unknown when a takeover occurs. Much of the Albion fanbase, quite understandably, were excited by what lay ahead when Jeremy Peace sold up with the club established in the Premier League and with the potential of further progress with the correct decisions and investment. That investment, of course, never came, nor has it at any stage in the seven years since.
Yet the current situation is bleak, and all associated with Albion yearn for that comfort blanket that they've been bereft of for some time. When that day comes, hopefully in the not too distant future, the emotion will be one of relief more than euphoria.
