West Brom star disappointed by breakdown of potential January exit
It appeared that West Brom captain Chris Brunt’s glorious tenure at The Hawthorns was going to come to an end in January.
With hours to go before the winter transfer window was scheduled to end, it looked like the Northern Irishman was heading to Championship rivals Stoke City.
However, the Express & Star reported that the Potters’ failure to move on defender Bruno Martins Indi resulted in his exit breaking down.
At 35 years of age, he’s not contributing as regularly to the Baggies cause as he has been in season’s past, and it clearly frustrated him.
That’s something that he has been speaking about, with his frustration at the breakdown of the move evident.
“It all pretty much happened like you’ve read,” he told West Brom’s official website. “I came to our training ground on the Friday night and I thought everything was pretty much ready to go. There were a few complications at the other end so it didn’t happen.
“I was disappointed at the time, and it was a bit of a weird one, because when I came down to the training ground there were still a few people floating around and the reality hit me where I thought, ‘I might not be coming here again tomorrow’. That would have been the first time in 12 or 13 years, and it would have been strange.
“When it didn’t go through, I’m not going to lie, I was disappointed. I’m like every other football player, I want to play football, I want to win games, I want to go out and be competitive. At this moment in time I’m not getting the chance to do that here and I have no complaints about that.”
It’s interesting to hear a West Brom legend admit that he wanted to leave the club and that he was disappointed that it didn’t happen.
You can understand what he’s saying, though. He knows Michael O’Neill, the Stoke boss, from national team duty, and he hasn’t played much at all this campaign.
He’s made just five appearances in the Championship, playing a grand total of 37 minutes of game time.
Ultimately, though, it feels fitting that he’ll be able to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the campaign, rather than joining another team mid-season.
In other West Brom news, Noel Whelan has given the Baggies a word of warning ahead of Sunday’s clash with Millwall.