Masi claims Gibbs will not join Inter Miami from West Brom until the summer
Kieran Gibbs is likely to depart West Brom in the summer according to Express and Star journalist Joseph Masi.
A recent report from The Sun linked the full-back with an imminent move to Inter Miami.
However, Masi believes it is more probable that Gibbs sees out the rest of his contract and finishes the season with Albion.
Gibbs’ £55,000 a week contract expires in June and considering he is the highest-paid player the board may be keen to offload his wages.
West Brom were keen to replace the 31-year-old with Marcos Alonso last month but a deal never came to fruition.
Preparing for Championship life?
Getting rid of a high earner indicates that the club may be looking to reduce the wage bill ahead of a likely relegation.
It is a sad but necessary step if we are to be in a strong position in regard to summer recruitment.
Sam Allardyce was constrained by the budget available to him in January according to a report in The Telegraph.
Offloading Gibbs and perhaps Kamil Grosicki by the time the next transfer window opens will set us up nicely.
Gibbs simply has not been good enough this season and Conor Townsend is now a better option at left-back.
WhoScored average ratings of 6.2 and 6.7 respectively highlight that difference, so shipping out Gibbs is the obvious thing to do.
Hopefully Gibbs is not the only high-earner to depart in the summer as a lot of players have underperformed this term.
Hal Robson-Kanu and Branislav Ivanovic are two examples that come to mind, as the pair are approaching the end of their contracts and have just eight league starts between them this season.
In other West Brom news, ‘Big Sam’s dream’ – Ian Wright makes shock prediction for West Brom v Man Utd.