Kevin Phillips: West Brom may struggle to beat Watford in Okay Yokuslu race
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
West Brom will find it tough to beat Watford in the race to sign Celta Vigo midfielder Okay Yokuslu, according to Kevin Phillips.
Yokuslu, 26, impressed while on loan at The Hawthorns in the second half of season and Spanish news outlet AS reports that the Turkey international would be keen on a return to the Black Country.
However, Watford are also in the hunt to sign the defensive midfielder who is reportedly available for £4.2million.
Celta Vigo are said to be desperate to cash in on Yokuslu and even though he’s already been at the Baggies, Phillips thinks it’ll be tough for his former club to re-sign the Turkish ace.
However, Super Kev does feel West Brom have one major advantage in the fact they would be able to guarantee Yokuslu a spot in their starting line-up.
Speaking to West Brom News, Phillips said: “He enjoyed it there, from what I can hear. But unfortunately, the draw of the Premier League outweighs everything else.
“I suppose the only thing is if he goes to Watford, is he guaranteed to play every week? That might be the only stumbling block whereas at West Brom in the Championship, he’s going to play week in, week out. That might swing things in West Brom’s favour.
“Unfortunately, there’s no comparison between the Championship and the Premier League. If you get the chance to go to the Premier League, unfortunately, it’ll be tough for West Brom to persuade him to go there instead if Watford are a club that are really interested.”
Albion have signed just two new players since the end of last season with Alex Mowatt arriving on a free transfer and Matt Clarke joining on loan from Brighton.
Sam Johnstone, who is in the final year of his contract, and Matheus Pereira are both yet to be sold and it seems as though Valerien Ismael will only have money to spend if they are moved on.
In other West Brom news, Albion are trying to sign an available player who impressed Darren Moore.
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