‘He’ll command a lot of money’ – Chapman delivers verdict on potential WBA move for free agent
Birmingham Live journalist Joe Chapman has said that he doesn’t see West Brom looking to the free-agent market to solve the problem Slaven Bilic currently faces.
West Brom are in the bottom three of the Premier League and Bilic’s position was said to be under threat last week.
Talking on a Facebook Live Q&A, Chapman was asked if he saw West Brom trying to bring in help outside of the window, with players like Jack Wilshere currently without a club.
“They won’t go into the free-agent market for the sake of it. Are there any players who could strengthen the squad?” Chapman said.
“There are players like Jack Wilshere but he’ll command a lot of money in an area where there are lots of West Brom players already.
“It’s a tricky one but I think they’ll probably keep their powder dry and wait until the January window.
“The pool of players in the January window is a lot greater than it is now. They could also do something with outgoings too.
“I expect Kenneth Zonhore’s loan to continue. Charlie Austin can’t get into the squad at the moment.
“There are some deals to be done with outgoings and then there’s a possibility to bring someone in.”
Wilshere not the answer
Wilshere isn’t the player who can change things at West Brom.
Daniel Sturridge is interesting but he’s highly unlikely to come back after his last ill-fated loan spell.
However, both of these players would command a lot of money – it’s the age-old problem for West Brom.
We think Chapman is probably right here. West Brom will need to get rid of some players in January if they want to bring new blood in.
The wages of Ahmed Hegazi are off the books and that could mean a loan signing could come in.
However, after the Spurs game, it would seem that jumping into the free-agent market at the moment is not necessary.
The January window is a completely different beast.
In other news, ‘Just don’t have that’ – Sky pundit claims Baggies had fight v Spurs but also one big problem