Relegation-bound West Brom insist they won't be forced to sell players on the cheap this summer

The Baggies sit bottom of the Premier League, 10 points adrift of safety with just seven games remaining and appear destined to drop out of the top flight for the first time since 2010.

Though the club will have the benefit of a substantial parachute payment, relegation is still likely to hit revenues hard, with broadcasting and commercial income expected to be substantially reduced.

Yet supporters have been assured the club is ‘financially sound’ and has no need to resort to a fire-sale of players in order to cover the anticipated losses.

Speaking at a meeting of the Albion Assembly earlier this month, director of football administration Richard Garlick claimed the club was under no pressure to sell and would only do so if a deal was in their best interests.

Exceptions to the rule include Baggies skipper Jonny Evans, who is one of four players understood to have a relegation release clause written into his contract.

The 30-year-old, who was the subject of bids totally more than £20million in recent transfer windows, could depart The Hawthorns for a fee of just £3million.

Albion have guarded against the financial hit of relegation with clauses which mean all senior first-team players are meanwhile facing a significant cut in salary when the club drops into the Championship.

The Assembly was also given a broad assurance of owner Guochuan Lai’s continued commitment to the club despite the loss of top flight status.

Lai, who purchased Jeremy Peace’s majority stake in the Baggies back in August 2016, is expected to appoint Li Piuye as the club’s new permanent chairman.

Piuye, who is based in Europe, is already a director of the club and a regular visitor to The Hawthorns.

The move is being presented as an attempt by Lai to gain greater influence on the day-to-day running of the Baggies, with the current distance between the owner and senior management acknowledged as a problem which must be resolved.

Garlick assured the Assembly there would be no ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to relegation.

Instead, Lai wants to create a clear and sustainable plan which would see the Baggies return to the Premier League and remain there.

“He wants a plan for the long term and not one to provide a quick fix only to be followed by relegation again,” explained Garlick.

Garlick also moved to quell fears relegation might result in a swathe of mass redundancies among non-playing staff.

The Assembly was told there was no need to lose employees ‘en masse’ due to the fact it already has a relatively small staff.

Job losses have not been ruled out, however, as part of a wide-ranging ‘reboot’ to see if every department in the club is operating to the best of its potential.

The work of the Albion Foundation has also been safeguarded for at least the next two seasons, despite the charity facing a reduction in funding due to relegation.