Exclusive: Kevin Phillips surprised by reported West Brom transfer update
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips is surprised by reports saying that West Brom manager Slaven Bilic only has £25million to spend on new players this summer.
According to Football Insider, Bilic can boost his budget by selling players but, ultimately, he does not have a huge war chest to improve his squad with after winning promotion to the Premier League.
Ex-Albion striker Phillips believes that a new striker is the top priority for Bilic this summer and has claimed that whole budget could be blown just on that area of the squad while adding the loan market will be important.
“It doesn’t sound an awful lot does it. I’m sure Slaven would like a little more than that – I’m sure he’d like to add a fair few players to his squad depth,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“£25million, you could almost spend that on one player and we’ve said all along, they need a striker.
“To get a top-quality striker for the Premier League, you’re talking that sort of money.
“I’m surprised to hear that but if that’s the case, it will have to be done wisely. Signing players on loan can help you in that first season in the Premier League and might be the way forward.”
West Brom have only completed one signing this summer and that was adding Matheus Pereira on a permanent basis from Sporting CP.
However, we all knew that was going to happen due to an obligation-to-buy clause in his loan deal at The Hawthorns last term.
Bilic and Luke Dowling need to press on with new signings now but due to the budget constraints, striking deals later in the window could become a trend as that is when better deals are potentially available.
It’s a risky strategy but Dowling has proven he can unearth gems on bargain deals in his time at the club.
In other West Brom news, the club has confirmed a pre-season friendly will take place next week.
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