West Bromwich Albion has announced it will cut its losses by £17m for the 2024-25 season.

It has been a very difficult season for the Baggies on the pitch, but these numbers should be seen as a huge boost for them.

Albion have had to tread an incredibly unstable and fine line in recent years thanks to the mismanagement of the club’s finances under the disastrous rule of absentee owner Guoshan Lai.

Shilin Patel may also be primarily based abroad, but the American businessman’s presence is not unknown when it comes to the club’s accounts.

Since his company Bilkul Football WBA took over the club in February 2024, he has invested £31.5m until the end of June 2025.

This was largely intended to cover losses, as well as debts inherited from the previous regime, including loans from US financiers MSD Holdings.

One worth £20m was withdrawn in December 2022, with the club’s stadium and training ground used as leverage, while another was withdrawn three months before Patel’s arrival.

It is understood there is a remaining balance of £25.7 million left to pay to MSD, which will finally be settled by December this year.

Having to sell a host of players over the last couple of years has inevitably left the squad weaker, but also younger, more energetic and, most importantly, the era of irresponsible signings on inflated wages should now be a thing of the past.

The club had to learn a hard lesson in living within its means, especially without parachute payments from 2023.

However, addressing their financial issues has brought Albion to a point where they will have some wiggle room to improve the squad this summer.

Their finances will still be judged by P&S’s rolling three-year term for 2025-26, but regardless of which division they find themselves in, Albion are thought to take comfort in the knowledge that arguably the darkest period in their history is in the rearview mirror.

There can be a lot of questions raised about the footballing decisions made by Bilcol which could have had a detrimental impact in the short term, but the financial choices they made may have saved the club from a bleaker future in the long term.