View: Quiet January expected for West Brom despite local journalist saying move for PL man ‘plausible’
We’re predicting that January is going to be a quiet month for West Brom – off the pitch at least.
The one unknown at the moment is around Nathan Ferguson, out of contract in the summer and a big player for Slaven Bilic.
The hope has to be that talks are concluded and a new deal signed before the January window opens. If not, there’s a possibility that West Brom could be forced to cash in on him.
The other question has partly been answered – for us at least.
West Brom’s strikers haven’t really been firing all season – luckily the rest of the team has.
However, Hal Robson-Kanu has found his scoring boots recently and Charlie Austin came off the bench to beat Preston with a cooly-taken last-minute penalty. However, it’s the one area that could be improved.
And there’s one name that won’t go away. Dwight Gayle.
Newcastle have now said that they will accept bids of around £15m for the striker that many Baggies fans are pining for. [Telegraph]
The trouble with that is that Gayle has never been able to reproduce his scoring form in the Premier League and that’s where West Brom are heading.
£15m is a lot of money for a player who might only be firing for half a season.
A second-half of the season loan would be much better but there’s no indication that Newcastle would go for that.
Joseph Chapman, from Birmingham Live, says it’s a “plausible ” January move.
Talking to the Hull Daily Mail he said, “Bilic admitted they tried for Gayle in the summer, and with Steve Bruce said to be open to letting Gayle leave Newcastle again, that’s a move that is at least plausible.”
However, we don’t think it is and in the Telegraph report it said that Newcastle weren’t expecting any clubs to come in for £15m, and that Gayle would remain at St James’ Park.
Do we want Gayle? On loan, definitely. Do we need him? On the evidence so far this season, no.
In other West Brom news, Emile Heskey has shared his thoughts on Harvey Barnes’ loan spell at The Hawthorns.