West Brom linked to £60m bid from French crypto investor Fred Chesnais

The 59-year-old former lawyer has a background in banking and in the video game industry, where he was chief executive of Atari.

He launched his own company, Crypto Blockchain Industry, in January 2021. The firm invests in blockchain services in sport and entertainment and has a current market value of £117m.

The club are on the market with controlling shareholder and chairman Guochuan Lai looking for a full sale at a significant loss to the £200m purchase he made in 2016.

The Express & Star revealed last month that Lai, who fronts Albion's Chinese ownership, was prepared to sell the club at around £60m.

It has been reported by the Daily Mail that Chesnais' cash offer, to acquire all assets including The Hawthorns and training ground in Walsall, is the first to buy the entire club since the owners' active hunt for a buyer.

The businessman holds an interest in the sport and last month launched Football at AlphaVerse - "a 3D digital world designed to bring fans closer to their favourite clubs." AlphaVerse has a partnership with Real Betis, in Spain, and Brazilian's Sao Paolo.

Albion are reliant on player sales to make any purchases this summer, with loan and free agent trading proving difficult. Albion were the only club in the EFL not to have signed a player, until Jeremy Sarmiento's arrival on loan from Brighton.

Lai is seeking a full sale of the club after Carlos Corberan's side failed to win promotion to the Premier League last season. The club are severely restricted with no top-flight parachute payments for the first time in two decades and no investment from the ownership.

Albion took a four-year £20m loan from MSD Holdings in January to cover running costs, secured against all WBA Group assets, including the stadium, to cover the black hole of the payments and a lack of investment.

Previous interest had emerged from Egyptian businessman Mohamed Elkashashy and sports lawyer Chris Farnell, via a minority investment, but Albion's controlling shareholder is seeking a full sale.