West Brom transfer news as journo shares free agent decision
Express & Star journalist Jonny Drury does not expect West Brom to enter the free agent market while off-field uncertainty at the club continues.
Albion are short of options in attack after summer signing Josh Maja – a free agent himself – was last week ruled out for around two months.
With Daryl Dike also out until 2024, Carlos Corberan is now relying heavily on Brandon Thomas-Asante to lead West Brom’s line.
But Drury does not expect Albion to address the situation by looking to recruit a player currently without a club.
“I think a lot of it is going to come down to finances,” he said on the Baggies Broadcast podcast [27 September, 2m 14s]. “The best free agents, as we saw last year in Jed Wallace and John Swift, cost money.
“I don’t think we’re going to go into the free market, but it is very interesting. I’d personally like to see Albion go in there, but it all boils down to finances really.
“There are other options, such as players who will have to play out of position if Thomas-Asante does get injured – touch wood that doesn’t happen because we really can’t afford it at the minute.
“But I can’t see a world where Albion shift into the free agent market at the moment. Who knows? We saw talk of a takeover yesterday, and if that happens maybe we’ll see some free agents, but at the moment I can’t see it happening.”
Lack of options
Albion being short of cash is not exactly breaking news.
The club are in desperate need of new backers to replace controlling shareholder Lai Guochuan – and fast!
After making do with castoffs in the summer window, the same will also happen in January at best.
The more likely scenario is that West Brom will have to offload another player or two to help balance the books if a takeover does not happen before then.
It is a sad state of affairs, and means Corberan is having to make do with just one recognised centre-forward for at least the next two months.
Indeed, should Thomas-Asante sustain an injury, or quite simply need a breather, Corberan will have to turn to one of Grady Diangana, Wallace, Swift, Jeremy Sarmiento or Matt Phillips to act as the focal point of the side.
It is just another reason why the off-field situation needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies have been accused of playing like “total strangers” in their goalless draw with Millwall.