West Brom & Birmingham in hunt to sign teenager after Aston Villa switch falls through – report
West Brom are among a number of clubs who are in the hunt to sign young centre-back Paul Ibahadon after a move to Aston Villa fell through, according to All Nigeria Soccer.
The Nigerian news website reports that Ibahadon, who is described as a “talented Nigerian teenager”, failed to join Aston Villa due to issues with international clearance.
Chelsea now appear to be winning the race to sign the youngster as it is understood he played in an in-hour Under-16 game at the London club’s training ground on Friday as staff ran the rule over him.
As well as Chelsea and West Brom, All Nigeria Soccer reports that Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest are also interested in signing Ibahadon.
Not a lot is known about Ibahadon.
In April, All Nigeria Soccer reported that he had a successful trial at Aston Villa and was offered a two-year contract by the Birmingham club.
However, that deal clearly fell through and the centre-back remains up for grabs.
What will interest West Brom fans about Ibahadon is that he has been compared to star centre-back Semi Ajayi due to him being “composed, strong and quick”, as well as being a strong passer of the ball.
After how well Ajayi performed in his debut season at The Hawthorns, we would take anyone would is being compared to the Nigeria international and hopefully Ibahadon ends up moving to the Black Country to follow in the footsteps of the player he’s been likened to.
In other West Brom news, Albion are set to announce the permanent signing of this loan star soon.
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