Adrian Goldberg shares what he was told about West Brom captain Jed Wallace in the transfer window
Adrian Goldberg has suggested that Jed Wallace was the only West Brom player that was not made available for sale in the summer transfer window.
Due to financial difficulties, the Baggies sold or released a number of players prior to Friday’s [September 1] deadline, while only free agents and loanees were brought in.
According to journalist Goldberg, club captain Wallace was the only Albion player whose future was not in question behind the scenes.
Goldberg told TheLiquidatorPodcast on Sunday [3 September, 14m 13s]: “I was told by somebody who was not a member of staff at West Bromwich Albion, but somebody who is well placed with good football contacts, that in the transfer window Albion put the message out, agents were told, that every player is for sale.
“I don’t think that is a particularly a shock. We all know the financial predicament of the club, every player is for sale, except for Jed Wallace.
“Now I don’t know if that’s true, I’ve got no means of checking that but he is somebody who is well placed in the world of football and has the ear of agents and in any event, clearly as captain Wallace is highly rated by [Carlos] Corberan.
“But I did a phone-in after the game versus Huddersfield and said that by making him captain, Corberan’s sort of painted himself into a corner because clearly on form you would drop Wallace and give [Jeremy] Sarmiento the shirt.”
Keep the faith
There was plenty of last-gasp interest in several West Brom players towards the end of the window, with Brandon Thomas-Asante and John Swift both linked with an exit.
Coventry City were said to be monitoring Swift, while both Stoke City and Leeds United were credited with an interest in Thomas-Asante as the window crept towards its conclusion.
Interestingly, though, Wallace’s was a name that never crept up in discussions, despite him impressing during his debut campaign at The Hawthorns last term and being handed the captain’s armband.
The 29-year-old has not scored in his opening five outings of this season, though, and has just a solitary assist to his name, which perhaps explains why there was no asking about his availability.
Wallace was disappointing in the surprise 2-1 home loss to Huddersfield Town on Saturday [2 September], but fingers crossed he can return to his performance levels of last season upon West Brom’s return to action after the international break.
In other West Brom news, Corberan sent a message to supporters on social media following the defeat to Huddersfield.