West Brom have made no formal approach for Valerian Ismail
West Brom have made no formal approach for Barnsley head coach Valerian Ismail, according to the Yorkshire Post.
John Percy had reported that talks had been opened on Friday morning, with the Baggies set to pay £2million in compensation.
In response, this latest report shares that Barnsley would let the Frenchman talk to clubs if that compensation is met, but the Albion aren’t that far down the line as of yet.
Luke Dowling was said to have chalked Ismail’s name off the list when looking at contenders in the past month.
Now that he has left his role at The Hawthorns, Xu Ke has taken charge of the search and has looked to have over-mimed that choice.
Dowling wanted Chris Wilder, but Guochuan Lai vetoed that decision, and now it appears as though Ke is acting as his puppet.
No decision will be made without a vote of confidence from China, and it appears as though Ken is the perfect voice for them looking over.
£2million.
That is a big chunk of money to pay for a manager who is relatively untested in the English game.
Yes, he took Barnsley to the play-offs last season, but that was with a small squad who swallowed up his tactics and high-press.
Ismael would inherit a squad with many has-beens in it, and older players who have just gave us some of the worst football we have seen in years.
The task ahead is huge, with numerous signings needed.
It won’t be easy to bring in new faces either, the budget won’t be big, and this compensation is likely coming from that, and won’t be replaced.
Good luck, you’re going to need it.
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