View: West Brom transfer rumour positive but won’t help earn PL survival
West Brom are reportedly keeping tabs on Crawley Town striker Max Watters after he made a fast start to life in League Two.
According to the Daily Mail, the Baggies are part of a list of sides from the UK and abroad monitoring the 21-year-old’s situation. Watters has scored nine goals in the league from 11 appearances since his arrival in October, with 12 goals in all competitions already (via WhoScored), having been released by Doncaster Rovers over the summer.
On his arrival at the Broadfield Stadium, he signed an initial one-year deal, but such is the level of interest from elsewhere, the club could look to offer him new terms in order to protect his value.
At 21, and with an impressive record at the League Two level, this is an exciting player that the Baggies are right to keep an eye on. However, before getting too excited, this is not a player that is likely to make an impact in the race to secure Premier League survival, while the competition for his signature will likely be steep.
Were West Brom to seal a deal for Watters in January, the learning curve would likely prove such a steep one that his game time would be limited. Of course, it would be unfair to expect too much of him, but there must be a conversation about whether now is the time to commit resources to this kind of player.
As West Brom have found with Cedric Kipre, the step up from the Championship to the top-flight can often be a daunting one, and as a result, the 24-year-old is yet to make an appearance in the Premier League.
However, acquiring Kipre cost the club money and the lack of trust that Slaven Bilic has had in his ability has left the Croatian an option short at centre-back.
Now, this is not too argue that West Brom should not target young players going forward. But given their situation and limited resources, they have to be very careful about how they spend money in January if they have any hopes of staying in the Premier League.
In other West Brom news, are the Baggies about to make a big mistake over Bilic?
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