West Brom could sign 22-year-old Chelsea defender on loan – report
Chelsea defender Jake Clarke-Salter could join West Brom on loan ahead of the new Premier League season kicking off next week, according to Goal.
The football news website reports that Clarke-Salter, 22, is considering the next move in his career after a mixed spell on loan at Birmingham City last season.
It is understood that Blues are weighing up whether to re-sign the England Under-21 international while Derby, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday are also interested in him – as well as West Brom.
Clarke-Salter made 23 first-team appearances for Birmingham last season but only started 19 Championship fixtures for the St Andrew’s club.
The 22-year-old centre-back had a few different injury issues but in those 19 games that he started, Blues kept just two clean sheets – one of which against West Brom – and only won on five occasions.
However, Birmingham fans were widely pleased with the defender’s performances as his loan spell progressed and the Birmingham Mail has reported that Blues would be interested in taking him back permanently if they can.
As for West Brom – they’re a Premier League club now.
Most of the clubs listed as being interested in Clarke-Salter finished in the bottom half of the Championship last season and with reports about Cedric Kipre arriving at The Hawthorns hotting up, Slaven Bilic might not need another centre-back.
The Express & Star has also reported that the Baggies are keen to sign Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi on loan from Chelsea.
As per Premier League rules, clubs cannot loan more than one player from another Premier League club. Therefore, signing Clarke-Salter would mean Albion kill their chances of signing Batshuayi, who would be a far more impressive signing.
In other West Brom news, Albion are close to agreeing personal terms with this forward.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.