Athletic journo backs WBA academy product duo for ‘crucial’ role in 20/21
West Brom academy products Sam Field and Rekeem Harper will have a “crucial” role to play in the Premier League this season, according to The Athletic journalist Steve Madeley.
The Baggies are short in the centre of midfield following the release of veteran duo Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt, and will go into the new campaign with just Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers as experience options in that area of the field.
But while Filip Krovinovic could still arrive at The Hawthorns before the end of the transfer window, Madeley has pointed out just how important Slaven Bilic’s youth talent could be in padding out his squad.
Writing in a piece for The Athletic, he said: “Having released Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt and not yet re-signed [Filip] Krovinovic, Albion only have two senior central midfielders in Livermore and Sawyers.
“So the pair will almost certainly start as a ‘double pivot’ at the heart of midfield with Sam Field and Rekeem Harper, young products of Albion’s academy, needed as crucial back-up instead of heading out on loan, as Bilic might otherwise have wished.”
In an ideal world, Bilic would have a little more strength in the depth throughout his squad, and especially in the centre of the park.
Bringing in Krovinovic would go a long way towards making that a reality, but the fact is that we are probably going to have to turn to Harper, Field, or even both at some point this term.
Neither are particularly inexperienced, with 55 Championship appearances between them in their careers.
But less promisingly, Harper is the only one with any kind of top flight experience – and even then that amounted to little more than a 20-minute cameo.
Here’s hoping that they can hit the ground running when they are inevitably called upon in the coming months.
In other West Brom news, Darren Moore has won the race to sign this highly-rated Albion youngster.
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