Not sure if this is the right topic but obviously we dont know what Lai's intentions really are.
However, the season we got relegated we had the 7th highest net spend in the premier league, the january window before that we spent £10m on Livermore (unheard of at Albion in January) we broke our transfer records and were paying players over £100k a week so i think we have spent a lot of money for our position, we obviously didnt spend it wisely though.
I am not sure what people expect when they say real money, look at now established premier league clubs - Burnley, Watford, Brighton, Bournemouth to give examples, all doing in the premier league what we were doing for years before them and they spent a lot of money to get to the level they are now and where we were, they havent achieved anything that we didnt, in fact us finishing 8th was better than a lot of what they have done (I know finishing 8th isnt a celebration but with how football is, nowadays thats our realistic aim as rubbish as that is)
Now because the last two seasons the incomes have been better because of the tv money, so the transfer fees and wages have increased, the same as if we went up i think we probably wont be far off signing our first £20m player (certainly 2nd season if we stayed up) because thats how we were heading anyway, signing Ideye, Livermore, Rondon, Chadli for big fees. We may see more players on £100k a week, again thats where we were heading by big wages for Fletcher, Evans then Greg and Sturridge.
Personally i would rather not go that route but thats the way money in football is heading and i think its a myth that we didnt spend good money, we did for our resources, we just didnt spend it well.
Club owners of similar size to us tend to spend their own money in getting clubs the premier league, but once they get promoted they will use mainly the incomes they receive from being in the premier league and then take a return on their investment, pretty much what we did for years until we got relegated. This season we kept most of our big names, especially at this level (and with that comes big wages) instead of having a mass firesale when that would of been the quick way for Lai to recoup his money, if we dont go up that will probably happen.
Wolves may be one of the exceptions to most clubs outside the top 6, their owners are saying the right stuff and they have a system that is working with Mendes, so far so good, but the time to judge them will be in a few years when the players they currently have - Neves, Jota, Jonny, etc , they likely will be sold, ie - Fosun and Mendes get returns on their investments.
If Wolves break into the top 4 or go on to become a football giant then fair play to them but i think the reality is they will become an established premier league club (ie - Albion upto 2017-2018, Watford, Burnley, etc) and they have just gone a different route to become that via the Mendes link, they may do well in the cups which is something i do think Albion have badly let themselves down with over the years.
Sadly i dont think many billionaires will be rushing to buy the Albion and waste money, if Lai goes we will likely get owners who will come and in and do what Peace did, Lai himself has done and majority of other premier league clubs outside the top 6 do.