West Brom set to lose nine players at end of contracts, including captain Jake Livermore
West Brom have nine players whose contracts expire next summer and they are currently not set to offer any of them new deals, according to Birmingham Live.
Club captain Jake Livermore is among the group who have already entered the final 12 months of their current agreements, along with a significant contributor in Kyle Bartley, expensive flop Kenneth Zohore, and the luckless Kean Bryan.
Youngsters Saul Shotton, Rico Richards, Mo Faal, Jamie Andrews and Quevin Castro round out the group who are unlikely to still be at the Hawthorns in a year’s time.
A squad that is already thin in certain areas will therefore be depleted even further next summer if the current outlook holds until then, and while Alex Mowatt and Cedric Kipre return from loan spells at that time they will be part of another sizeable group who will themselves then be in their final year, including David Button, Adam Reach and Matt Phillips.
Some of the current nine may be more surprised than others if they don’t get a new deal but that is how things are currently set.
Joseph Chapman writes for Birmingham Live: “Come the end of the season, a host of senior players will find themselves out of contract and, as of now, it’s unlikely that Albion will look to extend any of their stays.”
Rebuild
Steve Bruce went about the summer attempting to rebuild the squad with reduced resources in the form of little transfer budget.
Jed Wallace and John Swift were strong free agent signings, and Brandon Thomas-Asante has already made a telling contribution after his late £300,000 move from Salford City, while the impending arrival of Tom Rogic could be a masterstroke.
But the deadline day debacle that saw Josh Onomah and Steven Alzate’s loan arrivals from Fulham and Brighton respectively has left the manager without an abundance of options, especially since Callum Robinson was sold.
The goal of promotion is all the more important considering the financial boost that is likely needed to restock the squad to Bruce’s liking.
An overload of draws so far in the new campaign is undercutting a lot of good work in the overall performances, and there is a feeling that this squad is one or two short of where it really needs to be.
One of those will remain Daryl Dike unless and until he can stay fit, but despite completing his first transfer window as manager the Baggies boss is still dealing with a work in progress, which appears set to show another group the door in 2023.
In other West Brom news, one former Albion player has been extremely impressed by what he has seen from the team lately.