West Brom keep trialist under wraps amid ‘excellent’ display for Under-23s v Birmingham City
West Brom had a trialist play for their Under-23s again on Monday in the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City in Premier League 2.
It has been speculated on social media that the youngster who starred in Albion’s defence was Cianole Nguepissi, a 16-year-old who’s been on the books at Birmingham.
According to Birmingham Mail journalist Joe Chapman, the Baggies are keeping the trialists identity quiet for now.
But that may be hard if he continues to play well with Chapman clearly impressed by the youngster’s display on Monday at Birmingham’s training ground.
Writing on the Birmingham Mail website, Chapman said: “He’s a player who Albion are keeping under wraps for now, but they’re impressed by what they’ve seen so far and like the look of him.
“He was excellent again here, despite being in a back three which conceded as many goals – he’s a strong ball carrier out from the back and displays plenty of composure.”
One for the future
If it was Nguepissi who played for West Brom again on Monday, it’s not the only time he’s played for the club on trial this month.
He was on the bench of Birmingham’s Under-23s side on 10 January so it’s not quite clear whether or not he’s left St Andrew’s yet. However, it’s not uncommon for clubs to allow youngsters to go on trial at other clubs without them terminating their deal.
It does seem as though it was Nguepissi though as he flashed up as being booked in the game on SkyBet after the trialist was shown a yellow card at Blues’ training ground.
Dara O’Shea also played in the game as he appeared in the first half.
It’s encouraging that the Ireland defender is stepping up his recovery while Kenneth Zohore also played an hour.
Hopefully, Zohore’s appearance is just to keep his fitness up to improve his chances of being sold or loaned out this month.
Albion have just one week left to do business before the transfer window closes.
Daryl Dike is the club’s only signing and while we’re not too bothered about additions to the Under-23s, it would be ideal for more faces to be added to Valerien Ismael’s senior side.
Offloading Zohore should help bring in a creative midfielder, which should the Albion’s top choice.
In other West Brom news, Peter Odemwingie has revealed text messages that were sent that led to him sitting in QPR’s car park in 2013.