West Brom ask for £5m loan to be repaid as club fears January firesale of players

West Bromwich Albion‘s managing director has reached out to a company that owes the club £5m in an attempt to find out when or if it will be repaid – with players currently needing to be sold to keep the club operational.

i recently revealed in detail the financial problems ravaging the Championship side which includes an outstanding £5m loan issued to a company called Wisdom Smart Corporation.

Hong Kong-based Wisdom Smart is under the ownership of West Brom owner Guochuan Lai and the loan was granted around two years ago to aid his other businesses affected by the pandemic.

But it is yet to be repaid. It was effectively written off by the club’s auditors in the latest accounts, although a statement on West Brom’s website insisted that “Guochuan Lai has repeated his assurance to the club that the loan and accrued interest will be repaid”.

i has learned that Mark Miles, who was appointed as managing director in July, has now written to West Bromwich Albion Group, the club’s parent company, to find out if the money will be returned. Officials from WBA Group are attempting to contact Wisdom Smart.

Lai has missed several self-appointed deadlines to repay the loan.

Following huge pressure from fan groups – including campaign group Action For Albion and Shareholders For Albion (S4A), a group of around 400 fans who own the remaining 12 per cent of West Brom – Lai has put West Brom up for sale.

Miles has recently become actively involved in finding a suitable buyer, alongside WBA Group director Xu Ke, for a club that has played in the Premier League for nine seasons since 2010.

One West Bromwich Albion shareholder, speaking to i on condition of anonymity, described the club’s recent history as “a story of financial gymnastics, mysterious loans and unanswered questions”.

The issue has been raised in Parliament by local MP Nicola Richards while Action For Albion founder Alistair Jones and S4A chairman Leigh Kent also discussed it with West Midlands mayor Andy Street.

The financial difficulties of recent years have left the club needing to sell players, as soon as the January transfer window, in order to remain operational. West Brom had been looking to offload players during the summer transfer window, but found clubs made derisory offers for their players, possibly trying to take advantage of their financial position.

West Brom are now in their third successive season in the Championship and the tens of millions in parachute payments – paid by the Premier League to support clubs relegated from the top flight – have ended, leaving them in troubling economic times.

The club’s wage bill has decreased by 16 per cent, but needs to be further reduced, i has been told.

Nevertheless, the club has still sold in excess of 18,000 season tickets for this season – the most in 15 years – and has found that around 30 per cent are owned by fans under the age of 20, suggesting they are attracting younger supporters.

After eight Championship games this season they are 13th in the table, with two wins, two defeats and four draws.