Spotted: Out-of-contract player trains with West Brom amid uncertainty over future
Out-of-contract goalkeeper Jonathan Bond trained with West Brom on Wednesday as Slaven Bilic’s side began their pre-season schedule.
Bond, 27, signed a short-term contract extension to see out the 2019/20 season with the Baggies last term but there has not been any official statement by the club on whether he has been offered another extension or has been released.
The Athletic journalist Steve Madeley said last week that Bond “will want to know what options are available to him both financially and in terms of playing opportunities” before agreeing a new contract at West Brom.
However, the goalkeeper was all smiles on Wednesday as he was spotted at the start of a training clip the official West Brom official Twitter account uploaded.
West Brom like to operate with three goalkeepers in the senior squad and it seems, at the moment, that Bilic has three to choose from in Sam Johnstone, Bond and Alex Palmer.
In the last few days, we’ve seen reports of the Baggies missing out on a number of goalkeepers who’ve been linked with moves to The Hawthorns.
Croatian goalkeeper Ivo Grbic was linked with Albion but is reportedly set to join Atletico Madrid [Marca], Joe Hart [The Sun] has signed for Tottenham and David Marshall is heading for Derby County [The Sun].
Albion’s shortlist of potential goalkeeper signings has pretty much shrunk down to nothing within the space of a few days.
Has that led to them offering Bond a new deal?
With him attending pre-season training, it sure looks as though he’s been offered the chance to stay but an official statement is bound to be made soon.
In other West Brom news, Baggies fans have been trolling Brighton’s Twitter account for one of their tweets.
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