I know it's been mentioned before, but I would really love to know why Lai bought the club.
With Fosun and the likes, it was to give themselves an in for winning HS2-connected development projects. They have multiple companies that can compete for tenders under their banner, and owning a local team helps them grease the wheels as it were.
However Lai doesn't seem to be setting up anything Palm based in the UK. You would think he might try, a construction company gaining a foothold in time for HS2 seems like a good idea, but nothing has happened on that score.
I always thought it was about training the next generation of Chinese players; the "West Bromwich Albion Football Towns (TM)" would be host to promising Chinese youngsters and their parents. They would live there while receiving training from Chinese coaches, who had in turn been trained by our youth development coaches, and were using our methods. They sign a deal with the company that runs the town, and when they get picked up by a team (in China or abroad), the company takes a transfer fee. In some countries they could even keep hold of part of the players registration, and act as a Mendes-like super-agent for players trained by them. But I haven't heard any more about the 'football towns' idea since our relegation.
It certainly isn't due to any club loyalty, or wanting a rich mans plaything. And we must be a bit of a political hot potato at the moment, with everything that's going on.
Makes you wonder.
