Shilen Patel set to jet in for a West Brom Easter double

Albion owner Shilen Patel is set to travel to England to watch his side in Easter double-header action.

Shilen Patel waved and took the applause of the Albion faithful before the home match against Southampton last month, before which his takeover had been agreed in principle. The new chairman and owner will watch his side twice in the coming days. Pic: PA

The Florida-based investor completed his Bilkul Football takeover from Guochuan Lai in a deal including debts packaged at around £60million at the beginning of March.

Patel has already taken in two games with Albion, a home defeat to Southampton on the eve of his takeover and the thrilling 2-2 draw at QPR.

It is understood he will be in the capital tomorrow to watch Carlos Corberan’s side tackle Millwall before Patel’s family join the owner for The Hawthorns clash with Watford on Monday.

Corberan said of contact with Albion’s new US chairman during the recent international break: “Yes we had the possibility to keep talking a little bit in detail, some things we consider important, but of course private things, but we had a contact.”

Shilen invited his wife Parita to the Southampton clash at The Hawthorns in February as the latter made a quick whistle-stop visit to England and rushed from London to take in the televised Friday night fixture.

The owner-to-be, whose approach was confirmed in principle the previous night, was extremely keen for his wife to take in a live fixture to understand the feeling of supporters and gravitas of the takeover.

The couple have three children, two sons and a daughter. One son has started to show a keen interest in football.

The chairman aims to visit these shores as often as possible, especially early on in his Albion tenure, as he continues to discover the inner workings of the club. Albion face an important summer off the pitch as they focus on balancing the books with several senior players out of contract.

Earlier this month Patel settled the Wisdom Smart loan taken on from Lai, who took £4.95m from the club’s coffers to aid another firm in 2021. That loan, and significant interest, was impaired in subsequent accounts but cleared by the owner a couple of weeks ago as one of his first major moves at the helm at The Hawthorns.