Sky Sports pundit will be ‘very surprised’ if PL club don’t swoop for West Brom ace this summer
Sky Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham has claimed that he will be “very surprised” if Crystal Palace didn’t rekindle their interest in West Brom teenager Nathan Ferguson this summer.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, the Eagles failed with an £11 million deadline day swoop for the defender back in January, but still retain an interest in him.
Since then, Baggies technical director Luke Dowling has suggested that discussions between the player and the club hint at a likely exit at the end of the season.
And Higginbotham would not be shocked if a second attempt from Palace was more successful this time around.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I think with somebody like Ferguson going to a club like Palace, if he was to leave West Brom, I think it would be a win-win, because he’s only going to improve defensively.
“I think he’s got the mindset; I think he’s got the intelligence defensively to be able to cope in the Premier League.
“He’s shown that this season against some top-class players that could play in the Premier League themselves but it’s all dependent on how far down the line are they with West Brom? Can it be retrieved? I think there was talk of him being offered a five-year contract at some point but whenever the transfer window opens or this season ends, that’s when we’ll be able to tell.
“But I would be very surprised if Palace didn’t come back in for him.”
It would be a real blow to lose Ferguson, there’s no doubt about it, but it does feel increasingly as if that ship has already sailed.
Dowling’s frank admission about the youngster’s future back in February gave us a pretty good idea of how likely a summer exit is, and nothing has really changed since then.
The teenager is versatile, pacy, and strong on both the front foot and in defence.
So far this season he has averaged 2.6 tackles per 90 minutes in the Championship, as per Whoscored, as well as 1.6 successful dribbles.
As a point of comparison, Kieran Gibbs has just 1.4 tackles per 90, and 0.8 successful dribbles, as per Whoscored.
It’s little wonder that Slaven Bilic is already comparing him to West Ham’s England international Declan Rice, and praising him for playing like a 25-year-old in the prime of his career.
As Higginbotham implies here, Palace’s gain, should the deal go through, will be a real loss for Albion.
In other West Brom news, Exclusive: Phillips fears for Baggies promotion bid after BBC Sport update on PL clubs.