PL giants may have handed West Brom forgotten man double transfer blow
The transfer window was supposed to be the end of Cedric Kipre’s unhappy spell at West Brom but his two main suitors may have dropped their interest in him.
Kipre has become the forgotten man at The Hawthorns after making just three cup appearances and zero Premier League outings since his September switch from Wigan Athletic.
He came off the bench in Albion’s embarrassing FA Cup shoot-out defeat to Blackpool on January 9 but that has been his only game in the last four months and he has failed to make the last two matchday squads under Sam Allardyce.
According to Joe Chapman Kipre was “increasingly likely to be on the move” by Monday’s midnight transfer deadline and Blackburn were said to be confident of persuading him of bringing him to the club while Preston North End also registered their interest.
However The Sun report that Manchester City are loaning Blackburn their 19-year-old centre back Taylor Harwood-Bellis while Preston are set to receive Sepp van den Berg from Liverpool.
This is a big double blow for Kipre with his two main suitors signing players who play in the same position and the clock is ticking for him to find alternative clubs.
Get him some game-time
Moving Kipre out of The Hawthorns is a move that would suit all parties and put an end to his miserable spell in the Midlands so far.
There was not much fanfare when he arrived at the club and it has gone as expected really with 24-year-old seemingly struggling with the step-up in quality.
Not that Albion fans would know given the sparse minutes afforded to him so far this season but with the side shipping so many goals this season (50 in the Premier League, 14 more than any other team) the fact he has not been tried even once is a sad indictment on what the Baggies bosses have made of him.
Slaven Bilic and Sam Allardyce are two vastly experienced managers and neither of them have elected to place any great faith in Kipre as he has only been given fleeting outings in the cups.
The defender has over three years left on his deal running out in 2024 [Transfermarkt] so there is still time left to resurrect his Albion career but he is certainly best off continuing his development elsewhere for the time being.
Who knows, perhaps he will be called upon for an important role if the Baggies succumb to what looks like an inevitable relegation to the Championship, a division Kipre knows well from his Wigan days.
In other West Brom news, see our exclusive with Kevin Phillips on the Manchester United man Albion should be targeting.
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