Exclusive: West Brom tipped to boost transfer budget by ex-Baggie after Slaven Bilic outburst
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 claimed that West Brom could boost their summer transfer budget after Slaven Bilic questioned the funds he has to spend since winning promotion.
It has been widely reported that the Baggies have a budget of around £25million to spend on new players this summer and that has attracted major criticism from the club’s fanbase, increasing calls for Guochuan Lai to sell up.
Bilic has also spoken out about the budget, telling Croatian news outlet Index HR that West Brom “don’t have that much money yet” and added that he expected the Chinese owners to provide more.
Bilic went on to say: “Everything is a problem. I told the owners that the hard part of the task was already done. Although this may sound absurd – it’s harder to get into the Premier League than to stay in it.
“You shouldn’t think: ‘Okay, we’ll fall out but we’ll enter again.’ No, you won’t. It’s hard to get in again.
“We must seize this opportunity. We must not become a club that will constantly balance between the Premier League and the Championship.
“We need to invest a little so that we can get £100million every year. That’s £500million over the next five years.
“You must invest.”
It is rare that you see a manager speak so openly about the transfer budget that has been handed to him by the owners.
Many West Brom fans will agree with Bilic’s stance and Phillips has suggested that the Albion boss might get his own way after his outburst.
“I don’t know Slaven but I played against him once or twice. He was an honest player and you just know from watching and listening to him on the touchline that he’s still honest, he’s passionate and he’s not afraid to come out and say what he’s thinking,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“Am I surprised [by the budget]? Yes and no.
“With the current situation we’re in, in terms of the economy and COVID-19, the club are being a little bit cautious whereas as teams have come up, like Aston Villa last year, and spend a lot of money.
“£25million. You can get one striker for that and he could potentially be the player to keep you in the Premier League.
“I know Bilic has come out and said that and, deep down if West Brom need a few more quid, I’m sure that can be made available.”
It would be a big shock if Lai does send some investment the way of West Brom.
Since buying the club from Jeremy Peace for £200million in 2016, Lai has failed to pump any cash into the Black Country club and has instead let it run itself.
That was all well and good when we were an established Premier League that had accrued almost a decades’ worth of huge income but that isn’t the case any more.
Mark Jenkins scrimped hard while we were in the Championship and did a brilliant job.
It would be a massive shame if that hard work was undone.
In other West Brom news, Bilic has identified his top summer target.
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