A Bright Baggies future is on the horizon as West Brom takeover conclusion approaches

Fans of West Bromwich Albion will be saying good riddance to Guochuan Lai as the Chinese businessman's controversial tenure at The Hawthorns is set to come to a close, with Shilen Patel's takeover of the club set to be formally announced in the next few days.

West Brom fans will be hoping for a bright future under Shilen Patel

Since his takeover of the club in 2016, Guochuan Lai was never popular with fans at The Hawthorns. A rarely seen figure, with you able to count on one hand the amount of times he was seen at a home fixture during his ownership of the club, and a series of controversial loans to fund his other businesses, this created a frictuous relationship between the club's custodian and supporters.

However, after a period of having the club listed for sale, Guochuan Lai is set to be banished to the past as American businessman Shilen Patel is set to takeover the club. Late on February 15th It was announced on the club's website that Patel, who comes from Tampa, Florida reached an agreement alongside his father to buy Lai's stake in the club. Since then, the club announced that the deal will be set to be completed the week commencing Monday 26th February.

This has led to supporters becoming excited about what is yet to come under Patel's ownership of the club, with the entrepeneur waving back at fans after being spotted at the match versus Southampton on Friday 16th February. Despite the pre-match excitement, fans left the stadium disappointed after a 2-0 defeat.

After speaking to Alfie Price from 'The Albion Social' podcast, it was evident that while happy to welcome Shilen Patel to the club, there was a lot of satisfaction in seeing Lai leave the club. "It’s a massive relief to see the back of Guochuan Lai. There was a serious concern about Albion being in existence as a football club if we didn’t get taken over very soon, so for these fears to be lifted, it’s truly amazing. The future feels bright for the first time since Lai took over!"

"Before the takeover, it felt pretty much imperative to our future that we get promoted which piles the pressure on both Carlos Corberan and the players. They have done a fantastic job regardless, but I think they may benefit from that relief of pressure now that it’s not completely necessary to perform a miracle and get the club promoted. The fans should also be boosted in terms of attendance and atmosphere, which is well needed."

While some supporters will be dreaming of the glitz and glamour of having a wealthy businessman taking over the club, Alfie remained relatively modest about his expectations for what he hopes can be achieved after a few years of West Bromwich Albion under the ownership of Shilen Patel. "For Albion to simply be an established Premier League club again in 5 years time would be fantastic. I’m sure I speak for most Albion fans when I say we don’t expect Shilen Patel to inject massive amounts of money into our club, all we want and need is someone who cares for our club. As long as this is achieved and we are on an upwards trajectory, I’m sure most Albion fans will be more than content."

A lot of Alfie's views will be echoed amongst the West Bromwich Albion fanbase, as they begin to look forward to life with Shilen Patel at the helm once his takeover of the club is formally announced in due course. This afternoon, the club's official account on the platform X asked supporters what their favourite goal was this season so far. The most liked response? 'Achieving the goal of a takeover.'