Three ‘very important’ things at West Brom made Shilen Patel look past ‘red flags’ when buying ‘the Albion’

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West Bromwich Albion have ambitions of promotion from the Championship.

Ryan Mason’s tenure got off to the perfect start as West Brom beat Blackburn Rovers on the opening day.

Signings like Nat Phillips have hit the ground running already and those have been able to come to the Hawthorns thanks to owner Shilen Patel.

The American businessman has held a majority stake in the club since February 2024 and been attempting to overhaul the side’s fortunes.

Taking on a club of the size of the Baggies isn’t easy and Patel admitted that there were obstacles he had to look past before deciding the project was right for him.

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Shilen Patel reveals why he bought West Brom

During an episode of the Price of Football with finance expert Kieran Maguire, Patel admitted that he thought he would be priced out of an English club.

“Honestly, I’d thought I was priced out of England just on the parameters I had set in terms of what made sense as an acquisition,” he claimed

“I have a certain set of criteria that I apply when I look at these opportunities and this club really met everything that I wanted and exceeded my expectations in terms of what I was expecting given all of the turmoil you were seeing from the outside.”

After stumbling across West Brom and deciding they were the perfect fit, Patel admitted he spotted three major problems – but ones that were all fixable.

Patel continued: “We’re celebrating 125 years at The Hawthorns this year, when you think about a building that was nominally constructed in 1900 you can imagine what you’re expecting when you show up.

“Thanks to recent times in the Premier League, the stadium had been really well looked after, every area of the stadium in relatively recent times had refreshment work.

“So it wasn’t this rickety building that was about to fall over with barely usable sections, it compared favourably to other stadiums I’d been to in England, which wasn’t what I was expecting so that was great to see.

“The training ground and having a level one academy, understanding the importance of academy development and the importance of the resources you surround players with, that was a very important piece.”

West Brom are in a strong position to challenge for the play-offs

A new era is underway in the Black Country after the club’s disappointment of missing out on the Championship play-offs.

Tony Mowbray was sacked and in came Mason, a young manager with fresh ideas.

The transfer window has also been solid too, with Aune Heggebo already looking like a great addition and the recent capture of Krystian Bielik from Birmingham City fills the void in the changing room which formed as a result of Kyle Bartley’s shock retirement.

Albion still have a long way to go, however, after the tumultuous period under the previous regime headed up by Guochuan Lai, exciting times are around the corner.