Euro club chief confirms West Brom striker bid was rejected, claims ‘English clubs are afraid’
Metz president Bernard Serin has explained how close striker Habib Diallo was to signing for West Brom during the summer transfer window.
The Baggies turned to Diallo to potentially solve their striker problem, but a deal was unable to be struck as the forward moved to Strasbourg on deadline day.
Speaking to Francebleu, Metz chief Serin claimed that there was a short discussion over a potential loan offer for Diallo from the Baggies, and he blamed the financial situation in England as the reason the Senegal international transferred elsewhere.
Serin said, “We had no offers from English clubs. A vague start of discussion over a million-paying loan to West Bromwich Albion cut off immediately.
“In a previous transfer window, we would have probably transferred Diallo to England for an amount between £10 million and £20 million.
“English clubs are afraid. They lost part of their revenue this year, they lose huge amounts in each game because of the closed doors. The clubs want the players, but don’t want [permanent] transfers.”
The fact that the Baggies only offered a loan deal for Diallo puts into perspective how little money is left of their transfer budget.
Slaven Bilic is yet to secure the services of a new striker to lead his line in the Premier League this season and if he is to now bring a forward in, it would have to be from the EFL and before October 16.
This leaves open the possibility of either Huddersfield’s Karlan Grant or Bournemouth’s Josh King to arrive at the Hawthorns but at this stage the major stumbling block for the Baggies it stumping up the money for either player.
The arrival of either of these two forwards would provide a huge lift for the club and give Baggies fans hope that there is someone in their team who could score the goals to keep West Brom in the English top-flight for another season. Which is why it is imperative a new forward is available to Slaven Bilic in the near future.
In other West Brom news, Albion are in talks to sign this 28-year-old international striker.
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