West Brom loanee Matt Clarke ‘keen’ on permanent move from Brighton but may not get it
West Brom defender Matt Clarke is “keen” on a permanent move from Brighton, but may end up going elsewhere says The Athletic’s Steve Madeley.
The loanee, who Madeley suggests is potentially the West Brom player of the year, despite it being unlikely that the club runs a fan poll amid a terrible season, would be available fairly cheap and the club have interest.
But an abundance of players in his position, and a lack of funds to improve the squad overall could mean that neither the club or the player can agree a move that both appear to want.
Madeley writes in The Athletic: “Clarke would be keen on a permanent move to The Hawthorns and there are reasons for which a deal would appeal to West Brom as it is likely that any deal would include a low up-front fee and would be weighted towards performance-related add-ons and sell-on clauses.
[Semi] Ajayi, [Kyle] Bartley, [Cedric] Kipre, [Dara] O’Shea and [Kean] Bryan are all under contract for next season, so before Bruce could consider signing Clarke or any other centre-back he would need to move on one or two of the others.
“Bartley and Kipre are the most likely men to find themselves surplus to requirements — but there are no guarantees they will leave.
“For all his impressive qualities, Clarke is also a relatively quiet character. With Bruce on the lookout for extra leadership in his summer transfer dealings, he could also decide that a more natural organiser is needed at the heart of his defence.”
Typical
In a season like this one it seems pretty on-brand for the club to miss out on keeping one of the few bright spots despite both sides wanting a deal to be done.
It will hardly delight fans that of the two temporary signings from the Seagulls, the other one already has signed permanently whether they wanted him or not, with around £900,000 gone on Jayson Molumby after he made enough appearances to trigger the clause in his loan deal.
After a season of pretty turgid football in the second tier it is little wonder that Madeley was warning this week that fans may begin to turn away, and this sort of situation won’t help.
The quality of the performances suggest a major shake up of the squad is needed, but that is easier said than done, and if players are on decent contracts even after Premier League reductions it is probably understandable they’d like to stay.
In those circumstances there would be little point in chasing a deal with Clarke and bloating the squad.
Even if he has performed well this year, the difference between him staying and going is likely smaller than a midfield or attacking improvement could make considering the relative depth in different areas.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies want to sign a player from a club near the top of the Premier League.
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