‘I’m fairly certain…’ – Exclusive: Pundit makes January transfer claim about West Brom
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 claims West Brom will have to add more new players to their squad in the January transfer window if they still find their Premier League status in doubt by then.
Albion fans slammed the club’s ownership in the last transfer window when Slaven Bilic and Luke Dowling were handed a restricted budget to work with despite having a lot of work to do in upgrading a Championship squad into a Premier League one.
Since the English transfer window closed, West Brom have slightly boosted their budget by selling Ahmed Hegazi to Al-Ittihad in a deal reportedly worth £4million [Daily Mail].
When asked if he thinks the money will be reinvested into the squad in January, Phillips told West Brom News: “I’d like to think so but it just depends where West Brom are come January.
“If they’re still in the relegation mix come January then I’m fairly certain Bilic will want that money to reinforce his squad and add a couple more bodies to give them the opportunity to stay in the Premier League.
“It remains to be seen whether it will be [reinvested] or not but there were murmurs in the summer about the restricted budget. You could see the frustration, not just from Bilic but from the supporters as well.”
When asked where Albion could strengthen in January, Phillips said: “A left-back or maybe another striker.
“There’s going to be a lot of movement again in the January window but I’d like to think there’s some money available.”
Based on what we witnessed on Monday night in the 2-0 defeat at Fulham, West Brom could do with additions in almost every area of the pitch.
Sam Johnstone has surprised a lot of fans by playing well this term but the whole defence doesn’t seem up to scratch for the top-flight and the midfield has offered the rearguard barely any protection.
In the attack, Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana are off the boil and Karlan Grant is feeding off scraps.
We don’t only need a left-back and a striker in January.
We need a miracle.
In other West Brom news, Guochuan Lai may have handed the Albion ownership over to someone else.
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