Steve Madeley: West Brom could still seal permanent Okay Yokuslu deal
Okay Yokuslu has offered positive indications that he would be happy to remain at West Brom next season despite their relegation to the Championship.
That’s according to The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, who wrote on the website that “Yokuslu has, The Athletic understands, offered some words of encouragement that he would not rule out remaining in the second tier, having settled well into life at Albion and in Birmingham.”
The 27-year-old is currently on loan from Spanish side Celta Vigo after joining in February, but there is no clause in the deal for West Brom to make it permanent.
Their chances of signing him are still regarded as a ‘long shot’ after some brilliant battling displays in the middle of midfield piqued the interest of Premier League sides.
However their chances are surely be boosted by his reported happiness at the club.
Major move
Signing the Turkish international on a permanent deal would be a major show of intent by the Albion board.
His levels may have dropped slightly in recent weeks but he’s still proven that he can be mix it with the best in the Premier League, so we can only imagine how much he would dominate the Championship.
With fellow loanees Conor Gallagher and Ainsley Maitland-Niles certain to return to their parent clubs our midfield options will be extremely bare by the time we return to pre-season.
Other options at the club haven’t cut it, notably Romaine Sawyers, so if we can at least keep hold of Yokuslu that would give us a great chance of a promotion bid.
But with our board, and the level of interest that is likely to surround him, we still think this has very little chance of happening.
We live in hope, though, that we can witness his dynamic displays up close at The Hawthorns next season.
In other West Brom news, Chris Lepkowski suggests Big Sam sent big message to Albion board during defeat v Arsenal.
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