Athletic journos: West Brom amongst half-a-dozen clubs in hunt for player desperate for minutes
If you could ask each West Brom fan the one realistic signing they would make in January, the most likely answer would be Dwight Gayle.
Struggling for game time at Newcastle this season under Steve Bruce, the forward could certainly be available for the Baggies to make another move for him next month.
The 29-year-old scored 24 goals in the Championship last season, and a move for him in January could be the difference between automatic promotion and the play-offs – with hopefully a different outcome to the previous campaign.
The Athletic journalist’s Chris Waugh and George Caulkin have delivered an update on the future of the forward on Tuesday, with West Brom potentially facing bucket loads of competition.
“More hangs on Gayle’s immediate future,” they wrote.
“The Athletic understands at least half-a-dozen Championship clubs — promotion-chasing trio Nottingham Forest, West Bromwich Albion (where he’s already been on loan) and Leeds United among them — are interested in the forward, who would command a fee in excess of £15 million.
“Gayle himself is desperate for first-team football and Newcastle’s resolve could be tested if a substantial bid arrives. Should he go, they would need a replacement.”
Hal Robson-Kanu has been in good form this season despite not being first-choice at the beginning of the campaign, and someone like summer signing Kenneth Zohore would drop even further down the pecking order should Gayle return.
With financial fair play rules starting to affect a number of clubs in the Championship, there aren’t many sides that could fork out £15million in January, something that would make a loan-to-buy offer much more plausible.
In other West Brom news, Bilic shares key injury update on West Brom first-team duo ahead of clash v Leeds