Exclusive: £55k-a-wk West Brom player tipped to seal China switch by ex-Baggie
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 has suggested that West Brom might have to sell Kieran Gibbs to a club in China due to his high wages.
The Telegraph reported earlier this month that Gibbs, 30, is one of a number of players who’ve been made available for sale this summer.
Journalist John Percy wrote that Gibbs’ wages have doubled to £55,000-a-week following promotion to the Premier League.
As the ex-Arsenal left-back suffered a number of injury issues last term and played just 14 times in the Baggies’ promotion-winning Championship campaign.
Phillips believes that unless Gibbs’ wage demands are lowered, he could be hard for West Brom to sell before the transfer window closes – unless there is overseas interest from Asia.
“It’s going to be difficult to sell him,” Phillips told West Brom News. “I imagine the club will look to move him on because of the wages.
“Wages might be an issue for himself moving forward but you never know nowadays, he could go abroad somewhere.
“He could go somewhere like China or Dubai – somewhere they’ll have no issue paying his wages at this stage of his career.
“It will be interesting to see where he ends up.”
It would be a bit of a shock if Gibbs opted to head to China due to the coronavirus pandemic starting in the Far East – it could be something that’ll put players off heading there this summer.
However, if Gibbs wants to continue earning £55,000-a-week, we doubt that he will be able to do it in England due to his injury record last season.
We hope that if Gibbs does leave The Hawthorns, he’ll be able to stay fit and play out his career in the form he showed during flashes in the Black Country.
In other West Brom news, the club has confirmed a pre-season friendly will take place next week.
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