New West Brom owner: ‘I don’t want to be a pop star’

West Bromwich Albion’s new owner Guochuan Lai insists he doesn’t want to develop a “pop star” status after taking over the club and won’t be making any radical changes at the Hawthorns.

On Friday it was announced chairman Jeremy Peace (pictured above) had agreed to sell West Bromwich Albion Holdings, the club’s parent company, to a Chinese investment group headed by Lai.

The 42-year-old entrepreneur is the controlling shareholder in Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited and created much of his wealth in the landscape gardening industry.

“I don’t want to be a pop star; I want to become a serious owner, a great owner for West Bromwich Albion,” said Lai.

“For me, this is all about helping the club reach its potential by building on the good work which has been done. The club has an excellent infrastructure in place, ranging from their youth development programme to their training facilities.

“It is this which will provide the basis of the club’s future success and I will, of course, give the new chairman John Williams all the support I can.

(Photo by Adam Fradgley – AMA/WBA FC via Getty Images)

“First and foremost, our goal is to ensure that we remain in the Premier League and then beyond that, I would like to see the club establish itself in the top half of the division.

“We have a strong, competitive squad for the Premier League and over time I hope I can play my part in developing that still further.

“My intention is to maintain the current management ethos in terms of day-to-day management and approach to the team and to supplement this with the opportunities that China provides.

“My plan is to add to, rather than radically change, the workings of the club.

“In case there is any doubt, I also want to make it clear that I have no intention of changing the club’s identity, its famous colours or the stadium.”