{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Kieran Maguire: Guochuan Lai 'living in a fantasy world' as West Brom takeover update revealed
Guochuan Lai will struggle to sell West Brom by January unless he lowers his £50million asking price.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Lai’s asking price for the Baggies is not realistic.
As reported by the Daily Mail, West Brom are in talks with multiple parties from the United States and the Middle East over a possible takeover deal.
The Championship club are in search of new ownership amid fears that they may have a January firesale if Lai remains in charge.
The Baggies have struggled financially under the Chinese businessman and were forced to sell a number of first-team stars in the summer to lower the wage bill.
Maguire believes a £30million price similar to the sale of Sunderland would be a more realistic asking price from Lai.
Get Exclusive transfers news at Football Insider's YouTube TV channel
“I think £50 million is aspirational rather than realistic,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“It shows that Guochuan Lai appears to be living in a fantasy world.
“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.
“Leeds United were bought by Andrea Radrizzani for around £50million, and with no disrespect to West Brom, Leeds have a bigger stadium, a bigger fanbase and generate more money from marketing and sponsorship.
“Sunderland were sold for around £30million and I think that is a more appropriate figure for West Brom.“
In other news, Kieran Maguire drops ‘disturbing’ West Brom verdict amid ‘concerning’ takeover update