It was the summer of 2015 when a Chinese sporting arms race reached West Bromwich Albion.



Four years, one aborted takeover, one completed deal and a relegation later, the Baggies find themselves stranded in the fallout of China’s burst football spending bubble in a state of limbo they so nearly avoided.



Little is known, even among club staff, of Guochuan Lai, the enigmatic ‘new town’ tycoon who bought the club in 2016 with grand plans to exploit the purchase at home.



But there seems no doubt that running Albion has not panned out how Lai envisaged when he clinched a deal to acquire Jeremy Peace’s 88 percent stake.



The active encouragement from Chinese president Xi Jinping for the country’s ambitious businessmen to invest in European football has given way to clear new rules preventing further spending.



Experts claim it leaves Lai and Albion stuck, unable to move forwards, unable to...