West Brom may look to sell Grady Diangana in January to reduce wage bill if prospective takeover fails
Carlton Palmer believes West Brom may look to sell star player Grady Diangana in January in order to ‘Balance the books’ at The Hawthorns.
The BBC pundit, speaking to Football League World (1 December) believes that should a prospective takeover fail to be completed, West Brom may be forced to sell some of their star players to reduce the wage bill even further.
BBC Sport reported on 30 November that three reported potential bidders are interested in acquiring the Baggies but an “outright favourite” has emerged to complete the takeover of West Brom.
Diangana who is in terrific form for the Baggies at present, bagging three goals and three assists so far this campaign has been tipped by Palmer to be the most likely sellable asset that could allow the club to reduce their wage bill.
He said: “It has been reported that should a takeover at West Bromwich Albion not be completed they will be forced to cut their wage bill further.
“West Brom are enjoying a fine season in the Championship and were identifying possible recruitments for January to enhance their promotion push and now there is a worry that they might have to reduce the wage bill further, which is disappointing for Carlos Corberan.
“The return to form of Grady Diangana has coincided with West Brom’s good run – he may well be one the club could be looking to sell to balance the books.”
Promotion priority
West Brom are indeed undergoing a fine upward trajectory right now which can certainly be boosted by the news that an “outright favourite” has emerged in the race to takeover the club in the new year.
Given the club’s tough financial situation, such news may suggest that Corberan won’t be forced to sell anyone in the January transfer window.
However, a prospective takeover isn’t guaranteed as Palmer points out and it’s a process which may take months rather than weeks which may leave West Brom in a bit of a pickle heading into the January window.
Corberan will certainly want to add to his squad in the next window but that may not be possible with the tough financial situation and the probable need to sell their most marketable assets.
However, the club’s push for promotion must be the priority right now and that means Diangana must be kept on until the end of the campaign at least.
West Brom should look at the long-term gains rather than the short-term fixes and their best chance of challenging for those spots remains in keeping stars like Diangana and avoiding the costly mistake of selling him.
In other West Brom news, Guochuan Lai appears to be very close to an exit from the Hawthorns amid a recent development involving a prospective takeover.