View: West Brom reported hunt for 29y/o makes little sense as manager responds to speculation
If West Brom are going to sign a new player in the January transfer window then it is more than likely going to be a centre-forward.
Even though Charlie Austin and Hal Robson-Kanu have found their shooting boots in the last couple of months, it is still perhaps the only position at The Hawthorns that could do with strengthening.
Slaven Bilic has already been linked with a few strikers and one of them is Charlton’s Lyle Taylor.
According to a report by Sky Sports last week, Albion are among a handful of clubs who are interested in snapping up the 29-year-old in the January window.
It is understood that Taylor could be available on a cut-price deal next month due to the fact that his contract expires at the end of the season and that might be what has alerted West Brom.
Taylor impressed last season for Charlton, winning the top goalscorer award for Charlton as they achieved promotion from League One.
He also started this campaign on fire by scoring five goals and supplying one assist in his first six appearances.
However after that goalscoring blitz in August, Taylor was hit with a knee injury that kept him sidelined for the entirety of September, October and November before he returned for the Addicks at the start of this month.
The former Sheffield United and Bournemouth striker is yet to score and yet to start a game since recovering from his injury.
But that has not stopped Charlton boss Lee Bowyer from admitting that he is not surprised by speculation linking Taylor to the likes of West Brom.
“I’d only be surprised if there wasn’t interest in Lyle,” said Bowyer, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail. “You knew that was going to happen.
“We were hoping to have him signed up coming up to January but that hasn’t been the case yet. Hopefully that will change between now and January.
“If it doesn’t then hopefully we’ll keep him until the summer – because we need him.”
Bowyer might not be surprised by West Brom’s link to Taylor – but we are.
Taylor will turn 30-years-old before the end of the season and it would simply make no sense to sign him in January as there’s no way he would strengthen Bilic’s first-team options.
Yes, he started the season on fire and could have plenty more goals if he was not injured.
However the fact that he has not done much of note since returning from injury suggests that Taylor is still recovering and might not be fully fit for a while.
West Brom have Robson-Kanu and Austin who are both getting among the goals at the moment and Kenneth Zohore also remains an option.
Zohore has not scored away from two penalty kicks in August and has had injury issues, but surely Bilic is more likely to put his faith in an £8million summer signing rather than a potentially cheap January addition like Taylor.
West Brom’s interest in the Charlton hitman makes little sense.
If they are going to sign a striker in January it’s either going to be a loanee or someone who has the quality to make the step up to the Premier League.
In other West Brom news, Aston Villa are in pursuit of this Albion player.