Mark Miles may green-light West Brom sales in January to fund transfer blitz after Matt Phillips development
West Brom may be set for a busy transfer window in January after suffering another cruel injury blow this week and club chief Mark Miles may well be forced to take action.
As confirmed on Albion’s official website on Wednesday (6 December), manager Carlos Corberan expects Baggies forward Matt Phillips to miss around four months of action.
Phillips, 32, limped off in the 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at the weekend and the possibility of him missing the whole festive period already looked serious enough, but it has proven to be far worse than expected.
It is yet another blow for the versatile attacker, and for Corberan who has been forced to chop and change his squad on numerous occasions especially in attack this season because of several key blows.
Every single one of Corberan’s attacking unit bar Brandon Thomas-Asante have suffered one or the other injury absences so far this season, leaving the Spaniard down to the bare bone at times.
Winger Jed Wallace is currently out with a shoulder injury picked up in the win over Cardiff but should be back in time for next week’s game against Stoke City while towering striker Daryl Dike is still some weeks away from returning after a major Achilles injury back in April.
Corberan has worked wonders with a massively depleted squad compared to his rivals and that’s certainly down to the financial limitations the club currently face after majority shareholder Guochuan Lai’s loan repayments and the need for the club to trim the wage bill.
There is still uncertainty surrounding any prospective takeover at The Hawthorns too.
Such circumstances have meant the Baggies aren’t able to recruit players as they would want, but in order for them to spend, they certainly would need to sell some of their marketable assets and fringe players.
Baggies chief executive Miles, stated in June (Express and Star, 22 June) that the club may need to offload some stars in order to be competitive in the future.
BBC Sport journalist Steve Hermon (27 November) shared details on what he has been told regarding possible West Brom player sales in the January transfer window.
“Carlos Corberan has created a real togetherness amongst his playing squad, but the reality is, regardless of any takeover, there is still the need to lower the wage bill,” Hermon told BBC Sport [27 November].
“That could see some of their talented players leave in the January transfer window, but I’m told there is no need for a fire sale and the club won’t entertain silly offers for their stars.”
The Baggies certainly won’t be entertaining any “silly” offers but there are players in the squad who aren’t as vital to Corberan as expected that could be worth some cash which Miles could certainly give the green light for possible sales.
Birmingham Live reported on 2 December that West Brom accept they “must consider serious offers” for anyone in the squad in January
Martin Kelly, Caleb Taylor, Tedd Cann, Jayson Molumby and Adam Reach are a number of names who could be offloaded to free up space on the wage bill.
There are also some players currently out on loan, such as Karlan Grant, and Jamie Andrews who may not have a future under Corberan upon their return but could be sold to generate funds.
Star name Grady Diangana has been the subject of much interest and rumours regarding a potential exit in order for the Baggies to generate a considerable cash boost but that looks almost impossible given his impact and influence on Corberan’s promotion ambitions.
West Brom may well be strapped for cash right now but there are players on the fringes of Corberan’s squad who can be let go by the Spaniard and Miles in order to fund a much-needed transfer blitz in January.
It could be the telling difference for their lofty Premier League return dreams.
In other West Brom news, any member of the squad could be on the way out in January as the club acknowledges they have to listen to any serious offers.