West Brom made last-ditch bid to sign Barcelona No 9 – report
West Brom made a late attempt to sign forward Martin Braithwaite on a loan-to-buy basis from Barcelona in the winter transfer window, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Spanish news outlet reports Braithwaite, 29, rejected the chance to move to The Hawthorns because he would rather stay at the Nou Camp than join a club struggling to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
It is understood that Albion’s loan-to-buy offer would have had an option to buy clause worth around £13.2million.
Not even Messi would help us avoid the drop
Barca number nine Braithwaite is someone who was linked with a move to West Brom before the January transfer window when Sport reported in November that contact had been made over a potential deal.
Speaking to West Brom News, ex-Baggies striker Kevin Phillips said that Braithwaite has “become a better player” at Barcelona after struggling in his previous spell in England with Middlesbrough when he scored eight goals in 36 Championship appearances.
At Barca, Braithwaite has scored seven goals in 36 appearances across all competitions with six of those goals coming this season.
The Dane struggled in his last spell in England and is probably being made to look better by the star players at Barcelona.
Just because he plays for Barca doesn’t mean he would have helped the Baggies get out of the mess they find themselves in at the moment. Not even Lionel Messi would help.
Sam Allardyce’s side are 19th, nine points from safety with a ridiculously bad goal difference and have played a game more than 17th-placed Brighton.
It’s a desperate situation and we doubt Braithwaite would have been able to do any better than Mbaye Diane might be able to with the Senegal international assisting two goals in his first two outings.
In other West Brom news, Albion are in talks to get rid of this attacker in an out-of-window deal.
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