Lepkowski: Tribunal could be key to unlocking ‘beast’ signing for West Brom
West Brom journalist Chris Lepkowski believes that there is a reason that West Brom are being linked with two Crystal Palace players.
Christian Benteke and James McCarthy are the two Palace players on West Brom’s radar with less than a week to go before the window shuts.
The 30-year-old striker looks the most likely – Sky Sports journalist Rob Dorsett has said that West Brom are in talks over a short-term deal for Benteke.
Talking on the latest episode of The Liquidator podcast, Adrian Goldberg and Lepkowski discussed the two players and why the Albion could land them.
“One of them is Christian Benteke,” Goldberg said, “who was a beast in his first couple of seasons with Villa, got a hip injury, never looked the same again, went to Palace, was a beast in his first season and then fizzled out a little bit.”
Lepkowski said, “We have established Albion don’t have a pot to collect water in… What they do have with Crystal Palace is the outstanding Nathan Ferguson monies that are still owed and to my knowledge haven’t been sorted out by the Premier League tribunal that is yet to be settled.
“Maybe there is leeway there to come to an agreement that suits everyone concerned and offers Albion some relief in terms of the player they lost but maybe acquiring one or two players from Palace as well.”
Huge potential
Is Benteke the signing that’s going to save West Brom? All we can say is that he’s better than we’ve got at the moment and he’s got the potential to be exactly what we need.
The striker has shown flashes of being an elite striker – Liverpool signed him for £41m and Palace paid £28m for him.
His career hasn’t hit the heights he promised but he does have the Euros to play for and that’s likely to be his last shot at a major tournament.
West Brom will need a lot of help in terms of his wages – he’s on a reported £120k-a-week – but if we can use the leverage of the Ferguson deal then we could see it happening.
With a week to go in the January transfer window, we need to sign someone and Benteke could be a gamble that would be worth taking.
In other West Brom news, Krovinovic sends heartwarming farewell to Albion fans.
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