Matt Maher: Last remnant of any faith in Guochuan Lai has evaporated

If taking money out of Albion to prop up another part of his business empire wasn’t bad enough in the first place, the failure of the club’s majority shareholder to repay the debt by not one but two agreed deadlines has extinguished whatever was left of his reputation among supporters.

The taking out of a £20million loan has only further heightened fears over the club’s financial health.

Albion’s most recent set of accounts, signed off on March 29 last year by Pi Yue Li, the only director now listed at Companies House, included in its directors’ report the statement that “current club forecasts give no indication an overdraft facility or other funding arrangement is required at any stage over the 12 months from the approval of these financial statements”.

So, what changed? With Lai in China and seemingly allergic to public statements, who can tell? It is entirely reasonable to wonder whether those club officials based at The Hawthorns even know the full story.

Amid all the concern, the success of Carlos Corberan’s team on the pitch is providing a welcome distraction. The play-offs now feel a very real possibility. That is just as well, as promotion may be vital for the Baggies to avoid serious financial pain.

Yet even regaining Premier League status would not, by itself, provide a lasting solution. Central to the issue is the fact Lai paid way over the odds when he shelled out nearly £200m for Jeremy Peace’s 88 per cent shareholding in 2016. Right now, it is worth nowhere close to that amount.

Lai would like to make an exit but only if he recoups most if not all of the money, hence why he rejected an offer in early 2020 which would have seen him net around £120m once promotion under Slaven Bilic was achieved.

The trouble is further offers will be no greater unless Albion go up and stay up for a few years, something doubly difficult to achieve when there is no extra investment from ownership.

Corberan’s excellent start has injected short-term hope but the likelihood is the off-field saga has some distance left to run.