Reyes Cleary nowhere to be seen for West Brom under-21s as Lewis Cox points out yet another injury blow for Carlos Corberan
The striker crisis at West Brom may well have gotten much worse after Reyes Cleary was nowhere to be seen for the under-21s in the Premier League Cup clash on Monday night (11 December).
The Baggies youth faced off against Sheffield United last night losing 5-2 but Cleary was nowhere to be seen for the game which may have hinted at an appearance for the West Brom first team against Rotherham on Tuesday (12 December) after Josh Maja’s latest injury setback.
Express & Star journalist Lewis Cox, taking to his personal Twitter account (11 December) mooted that Cleary may well be involved for Carlos Corberan against Rotherham after not being picked for the under-21s.
However, Cox later pointed out that Cleary did pick up a knock a couple of weeks ago which suggests he may well have suffered another injury blow after recently coming back from a long lay-off.
With Cleary now out of action, it leaves Corberan with Brandon Thomas-Asante as his only striker option right now with Daryl Dike still yet to make a return from his Achilles injury, Maja suffering a setback against Sunderland and now Cleary.
The 19-year-old forward was an instant hit during the 2022/23 campaign, scoring 19 goals for Richard Beale’s PL2 side as well as making five appearances across three different competitions for Carlos Corberan’s men.
However, the Baggies sensation suffered a serious hamstring injury towards the back end of last season after scoring a hattrick against Derby in a 5-1 PL2 win in April – his last appearance in a West Brom shirt [Transfermarkt].
As the Baggies geared up for their Championship fixture against Plymouth Argyle on 21 October, the young striker was spotted training alongside defender Cédric Kipré on 19 October and even appeared on the bench for the first time in the 2-0 win against Coventry City [Transfermarkt].
West Brom desperately need goals to boost their position in the table and Cleary has got bags of them, considering his form for the reserve side after scoring 19 goals before his injury layoff.
The Championship remains the ideal platform across Europe for burgeoning young talents to hone their craft, and players who have taken a similar path to Cleary have gone on to become World beaters at Premier League level.
Cleary may still have been some weeks away from action and may have been required to step up his fitness back in the reserve team but this latest development certainly suggests he may not be back for a little while yet.
Another blow for West Brom given their striker crisis. It’s only gotten worse again.
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.