Exclusive: West Brom tipped to make decision on potential new signing within days – pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
West Brom will make a decision on whether to sign free agent Ahmed Musa imminently, according to Kevin Phillips.
Musa, 28, has been training with the Albion ahead of potentially earning a short-term contract that will see the ex-Leicester forward return to the Premier League.
However, Sam Allardyce might be unable to sign the Nigeria international.
The Daily Mail has recently reported that West Brom are “running low on fund” after a busy January transfer window and Musa is attracting attention from Burnley, Southampton and Brighton.
It remains to be seen whether any funds will be freed up to sign Musa but Phillips expects a decision to be made soon because it will be tough for the attacker to impress on trial at the minute due to how thick and fast matches are coming around.
“They might make a decision early this week,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“It’s hard really because these players aren’t going to be doing a lot of training. Generally, in a Premier League season, you play Saturday-Saturday and you might have a chance to play a practice match in the week to have a really good look at players who are in on trial.
“But at the moment, I imagine it’s play, rest, recover and a bit of tactical work so it might take a little longer to make a decision because they won’t have been able to see him at full tilt in a training match.
“I assume they’ll want to make a decision quickly. Time’s running out in terms of games because it’s a massive mountain to climb to get out of that relegation battle.”
West Brom do have one big way they can free up some funds to sign Musa.
According to Polish news outlet Interia Sport, Kamil Grosicki is earning £40,000-a-week on his contract at The Hawthorns and is wanted by Legia Warsaw.
If Albion can find a way to release Grosicki on a free transfer, they might find themselves with enough money in the wage budget to pay for Musa.
However, that is after deciding whether or not he’d be a worthwhile signing.
Musa has most recently played for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia but is best remembered for his spells at CSKA Moscow and Leicster, where he made 21 Premier League appearances and scored two goals.
In other West Brom news, Premier League and MLS clubs want to sign this Albion player and one bid has already been rebuffed.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.