Nick Ware

Mon 21 June 2021 19:40, UK

West Brom expect to appoint Valerien Ismael as their next manager within the next 24 hours pending Xu Ke’s approval, according to The Sun.

The newspaper claims the move to appoint the Barnsley boss is likely to be confirmed on Monday or Tuesday, once the West Brom chief executive gives the “green light” to Ismael’s chosen backroom staff, and the final details of his contract are finalised.

Ismael, who will cost the West Midlands side £2million to prise from his Tykes contract, will assess his new squad when they return to pre-season training on Monday.

Surely no more surprises…

So, as ever, there are positives that come with caveats.

It looks as if a deal for Ismael is on the brink of completion, with The Sun’s report suggesting it will be done today (Monday, 21/06/21], or tomorrow.

One would expect to be comforted by that news, but this is the West Brom board we are talking about here, and if we’ve learnt anything this summer, it’s to expect the unexpected.

It’s claimed that just Xu Ke’s approval of Ismael’s backroom team, as well as the finer details of his contract, are all that are preventing this deal being wrapped up and announced straight away.

Those may seem like minor details in the grand scheme of things, but when you consider the ineptitude of the Baggies board so far in our hunt for Sam Allardyce’s successor, then you start to get slightly worried.

David Wagner seemed a certainty to arrive at The Hawthorns, and then a move was aborted last minute as he joined Swiss side Young Boys, while a long-heralded move for Chris Wilder never came to fruition.

So excuse us if we hold off on the Ismael banners just yet.

Let’s hope we get to see that photo of him grinning, putting pen to paper, on Tuesday.

In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has reacted to the latest update on Matheus Pereira’s future at Albion.

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