Joseph Masi shares one-word update on West Brom-Tom Ince speculation
West Brom are not going to be signing Stoke City attacker Tom Ince, according to Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi.
TeamTalk reported earlier this week that Slaven Bilic was considering a move to sign the 28-year-old before the domestic transfer window closes later this month.
Ince is understood to not be in the plans of Stoke manager Michael O’Neill after failing to play in any of Stoke’s opening six fixtures this season.
However, he does not appear to be in Bilic’s plans either with Masi reporting that there is “nothing” in the speculation linking the attacker with a move to The Hawthorns.
We can’t really say this is surprising.
Ince is very much a right-sided winger and West Brom already have plenty of strength in depth in that side of their attack.
Matheus Pereira, Kamil Grosicki, Matt Phillips, Grady Diangana, Callum Robinson and even Hal Robson-Kanu can all play on the right-wing if needed so it would make no sense to waste some of what is already a tight budget on someone who isn’t needed.
And then you have Ince’s form itself, which is clearly not good enough to get into one of the worst Stoke sides of the 21st Century.
Ince scored just three goals and only supplied two assists in 38 Championship appearances for the Potters last season.
West Brom cannot expect to survive if they’re signing misfiring fringe players from bottom-half Championship clubs.
Thankfully, there’s no truth in TeamTalk’s report about Ince and Albion’s supposed interest in him.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies have agreed a seven-figure fee for this transfer.
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