Sam Allardyce details the real reason for failed West Brom transfer
Sam Allardyce has admitted West Brom did not have the money to afford Ahmed Musa after Albion pulled the plug on a move for the free agent.
Musa was linked with a transfer to The Hawthorns throughout the winter window and finally arrived in the West Midlands for a trial in early February ahead of signing a possible short-term contract.
However Joseph Masi of the Express & Star tweeted on February 10 that the move was off because Albion felt they had higher calibre players already at the club, but Big Sam has cited financial factors as the real reason.
As reported on the Birmingham Mail website, Allardyce explained: “We’d already brought four players in, so it didn’t fall within our budget anymore.”
“More players would have had to have left to have funded that one. It’s a shame that Musa didn’t get in or come in earlier, obviously because of Covid he couldn’t make it.
“He may have been one of the four that we brought in, but because he was the fifth it couldn’t get done.”
More money misery
Quite whether this latest reveal makes the decision better or worse is one for Baggies to debate among themselves.
On the one hand at least Big Sam is not completely oblivious to the fact that this Albion squad is severely lacking explosive speed in the wide areas, something Musa would have offered if he was signed.
But the fact that the club could not afford to move for a free agent who seemed desperate to sign in order to kick-start his career is a rather worrying sign.
Indeed the Baggies boss makes reference to the fact he would likely have been brought in if at the expense of one of the other mid-season signings it wasn’t for his late arrival due to Covid reasons.
That is very detailing in itself because it raises the question of who would have been sacrificed for Musa?
Robert Snodgrass joined very early in the window so it looks like he was a long-term target but Mbaye Diagne, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Okay Yokuslu were all late arrivals to The Hawthorns yet none are similar in style or position to Musa.
Would Big Sam have had to forego one of the midfielders, Maitland-Niles or Yokuslu, to free up space?
Probably, and that is quite a worrying consideration given that they already seem like indispensable members of the side with both likely to line up in the middle of midfield against Manchester United on Sunday.
The bad news keeps on coming this season.
In other West Brom news, Mark Lawrenson gives his prediction for Albion’s upcoming clash with Manchester United.
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