Kieran Gibbs explains ‘strange’ move away from West Brom
Former West Brom defender Kieran Gibbs has explained his ‘strange’ move to Inter Miami in the summer after four years with the Baggies.
The former Arsenal defender made 100 appearances for West Brom over four years with the club before leaving at the end of his contract in the summer and joining Inter Miami in the MLS.
Despite only being 31-years-old and having interest in the Premier League, Gibbs made the decision to go abroad having not featured for the Baggies since January 2021.
Gibbs was part of the West Brom side that won promotion to the Premier League under Slaven Bilic, but lost his place in the team and barely featured under Sam Allardyce as they were immediately relegated back to the Championship.
Speaking to the ‘What Bitcoin Did‘ podcast, Gibbs explained he needed a change of scenery after the COVID pandemic hit and Miami was an opportunity that he just couldn’t turn down.
“It was a strange one. It came around quite quick in the end, moving here from England,” he said.
“When the pandemic hit, I just felt like I needed something completely new and different – a good challenge that would excite me. It’s a new club, great owners and a great city. I’m happy, I’m really settled here now. It took me a while, I landed with two suitcases, so I started from scratch.
“I came on my own because it was too much of a nightmare with Covid, but I’ve found my feet and I’m happy.”
Not missed
While Gibbs had a decent spell with the Baggies, it’s hard to say he’s being missed much at the club right now.
West Brom are sitting in third place in the Championship table behind Fulham and Bournemouth but defensively they are the best team in the league currently.
Conor Townsend has been excellent under Valerien Ismael this season, even being named as one of the best in the division in his position.
Gibbs is enjoying his time in Miami and that’s great for him, but for West Brom there were surely no tears shed when he left and there is no Gibbs-shaped hole in the side that has anyone thinking about him at Hawthorns these days.
In other West Brom news, youth-team star told he’s ‘not ready’ for first-team yet.