Exclusive: Kevin Phillips says if West Brom should sign free agents Welbeck & Wilshere
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips has urged West Brom to “steel clear” from signing free agents Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere after they were released by Watford and West Ham respectively.
Slaven Bilic is yet to add a new centre-forward to his squad since the end of last season while Albion’s midfield has also been criticised in the opening weeks of the new Premier League campaign.
Although both are experienced in the Premier League and are capped by England, they are infamous for the number of injury issues they’ve had to deal with in recent years.
While Phillips sees Wilshere as being likely to join Rangers at this stage, he still doesn’t think the Baggies should touch the ex-Arsenal players with a barge pole.
“I understand Wilshere is deep into negotiations with Rangers. I think that will suit the player down to the ground. Would he fit in at West Brom? I think West Brom are fairly okay in the midfield area with the players they’ve got,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“Where would Welbeck play? They’ve got some good wide players. I know he can play down the middle but he’s not an out-and-out striker and with his injury record, it would be a gamble.
“It just depends on whether Bilic wants to bring more numbers in as cover but personally, I would steer clear if that was me in charge.
“West Brom can’t afford to bring people in that are going to break down. They’ve got to bring solid players in who can run their course.”
West Brom are running out of time to add to their squad before the transfer window closes until January.
At 5pm on Friday, Albion will no longer be able to sign players from EFL clubs and it has been widely reported that Huddersfield striker Karlan Grant has been Bilic’s top target for most of the transfer window.
It would be nothing short of comical if the Baggies fail to sign a new striker and they may be forced to turn their attention to free agents if that happens.
But, as Phillips says, the lack of reliability you get from Welbeck and Wilshere means they are worth avoiding.
In other West Brom news, Guochuan Lai would be happy to discuss selling the Baggies.
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