West Brom defender Matt Clarke could have played last game for club – Jonny Drury
West Brom rounded off their 2021-22 Championship season with a resounding 4-0 victory at home to bottom club Barnsley on Saturday (7 May).
The Baggies’ top scorer Karlan Grant netted twice on a sunny afternoon at The Hawthorns as Adam Reach and Matt Clarke also etched their names on the scoresheet for the final time this season.
Grant had the chance to claim the match ball with a hat-trick from the penalty spot but his tame effort was saved by Tykes goalkeeper Jack Walton.
Clarke was playing the last game of his loan spell from Brighton and when he was substituted for teenager Zac Ashworth, Express and Star journalist Jonny Drury claimed it could be his last in the navy blue and white stripes.
“Another youngster on. Great reception for Clarke too. Nice of him to get a goal,” Drury said via his personal Twitter account. “Could well be the last we’ve seen of him in an Albion shirt, we’ll have to see.”
Leave him
Clarke has been nothing more than Ok throughout the entirety of this season and a farewell goal to The Hawthorns won’t change any of that.
There could be a clause in his loan deal which allows West Brom to sign him for a cut-price deal or at least without the worry of a bidding war but they need to be careful.
The Seagulls could easily fleece Albion of a big proportion of their summer transfer budget and it’s not really worth it for someone of Clarke’s ability.
If Steve Bruce and his recruitment team have any real ambitions of returning to the Premier League then they need to be thinking like they are already in the promised land.
Would any Premier League team spend money on Clarke right now? Not a chance, so he is a player the Baggies could do with avoiding when they come to drafting their summer plans.
In other West Brom news, Bruce has claimed that they have already made “big inroads” into the transfer market ahead of next season.
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