Baggies face transfer market challenge - owner Patel

Shilen Patel's open letter was published on the West Bromwich Albion website

West Bromwich Albion face a balancing act this summer to strengthen their squad and stay within English Football League financial rules, chairman Shilen Patel has said.

The Baggies reached the Championship play-offs last season but lost 3-1 on aggregate to Southampton in the semi-finals.

Seven players were subsequently released, including long-serving winger Matt Phillips, while Alex Mowatt, Cedric Kipre and Kyle Bartley are considering new contracts offered by the club.

Patel says Albion will record a "significant" loss for the 2023-24 financial year, following on from an £11m deficit the season before.

"The summer transfer window presents us with both a challenge and an opportunity," Patel said in an open letter to supporters.

"The challenge will be to operate within the league's financial rules from the club's current position.

"Championship clubs cannot lose more than £39m across three seasons. The club recorded an £11m loss for the 2022-23 season and will confirm another significant deficit for the 2023-24 campaign – our first without Premier League monies in 22 years."

Albion were relegated from the top flight in 2021, since when they have finished 10th, ninth and fifth in the Championship table.

And Patel said that despite the financial constraints, they must find a way to "come back stronger next season".

He continued: "In short, that means we will need to be resourceful, process-driven, and open-minded to get the most out of the flexibility we have or can create in the market.

"It is never easy to restock a squad, but this summer is also an opportunity to build a foundational sporting philosophy and practices for long-term success."

Bilkul Football WBA - a company owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Patel and his father Kiran - acquired an 87.8% shareholding in the club from Chinese businessman Guochuan Lai in February.

But the club's most recent annual report estimated it was still losing a seven-figure sum on a monthly basis.

"It is our job this season and beyond to balance the books and grow value in the playing squad," Patel added. "This can only be achieved through prudent and strategic decision-making."

Analysis - Baggies 'cannot splash a load of cash'

By Steve Hermon, BBC WM Sport's West Bromwich Albion commentator

In terms of the club’s financial situation, Shilen Patel’s open letter is not necessarily telling us anything we didn’t already know.

We know that the next set of financial accounts will be worse than the previous annual losses of £11m and that the EFL rules mean they cannot splash a load of cash this summer.

But what the letter does is spell out the limitations the club will face in the transfer window in black and white and makes it incredibly transparent for the fans.

There are also huge positives revealed, including investment in the training ground, The Hawthorns pitch and the women’s team being incorporated into the club. All of which reiterate his commitment to the wider set-up.

There’s no doubt the American is ambitious but he’s also fully aware of Albion’s current situation - if they weren’t already, now the fans are too - and this letter shows he is sticking by the promise he made shortly after the takeover was competed earlier this year, that he will be a custodian and steward of the football club.

That should be yet another level of reassurance for the supporters, who this time last year were worried they might not even have a team to support at all.