Report – West Brom in ‘advanced talks’ to secure loan deal for midfielder
West Brom are in “advanced talks” to complete a new loan deal for Filip Krovinovic, according to Portuguese outlet A Bola.
The 25-year-old helped the Baggies to promotion from the Championship last season during a temporary stint at The Hawthorns from parent club Benfica.
Since then, there has been uncertainty over whether or not he would return to England, or what form any potential deal might take.
But it would appear that Albion are edging closer to securing his services for another season.
It is understood that Krovinovic is training alone as he awaits confirmation over where he will be playing his football next term, and a transfer could be rubber-stamped in the next 72 hours.
This would be a major boost for the Baggies if it is true.
Initially, it looked as if Albion would be pursuing a permanent deal for the Croatian, but with funds set to be relatively tight this summer, this may actually work out better for Slaven Bilic’s men.
West Brom reportedly have a transfer kitty of around £20-30 million to spend this summer, and with Benfica asking for around £10 million, signing him on a full-time basis would have blown a whole chunk of that budget.
At least this way the Baggies should be able to secure their man without having to make a significant outlay for him.
What will be interesting, however, is whether to not an obligation-to-buy clause is written into the deal.
You would assume that would be the only way that missing out on a sale would be beneficial to Benfica, who surely much prefer a fee for the player in the coming weeks.
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