West Brom handed potential boost in striker chase as EFL club chief makes financial admission
West Brom have been handed a transfer boost over Karlan Grant following the CEO of Huddersfield Town’s admission that his club are trying to offload players.
Mark Devlin has admitted that his club are facing a ‘doomsday scenario’, and has admitted that the Terriers are actively trying to sell some of their players to balance the books due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This could be positive news for the Baggies, as they look to secure the signing of Grant from Huddersfield. With Devlin’s admission perhaps indicating that a deal will have to be struck before the closure of the domestic transfer window on October 16.
Speaking to the BBC’s Dan Roan, Devlin said, “We’ve now moved to almost a doomsday scenario, we’re budgeting now to not have any fans at all in [this season]. I think that the Premier League and government can get their heads together and come up with a sensible, financial package to keep this pyramid going.
“There are clubs creaking at the edges now. The current situation means we’ll be approximately £3-4m worse off this season than had we had crowds and our corporate partners here.
“We don’t just get a bucket of £80m. A lot of that money has been spent already or invested in transfer fees or significant salaries. We’re back to the point of trying to offload players in a transfer market that’s soft.”
Grant is believed to be Slaven Bilic’s top target this summer and Devlin’s comments will give the Baggies boss confidence that he will finally get his man.
There have been reports that West Brom and Huddersfield had reached an impasse over a deal for Grant. According to reports, the two clubs agree on a price for Grant, but Huddersfield want more money upfront than West Brom are currently offering.
The Baggies have a depleted transfer budget and are looking for a deal that will allow them to pay in instalments. With Huddersfield’s financial worries, perhaps this is why they need more money upfront, as they need the money now and not in a year or so.
This transfer should conclude before October 16, with the closure of the domestic transfer window. But it is now hard to see what is preventing a deal from being struck. Huddersfield need to sell, and West Brom want to buy. Surely this should be an easy transfer to complete?
Hopefully, we’ll find out sooner rather than later.
In other West Brom news, Albion are eyeing up a move for this Bournemouth striker.
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