Josh Maja season may be over as worst case scenario emerges after West Brom striker has ankle ligaments damaged at Sunderland
Josh Maja’s first season at West Brom could be over already if the “worst case scenario” is realised after his second ankle injury, according to Birmingham Live.
The outlet reported via their website late on 12 December that the the striker’s ligament damage is “so severe” it will require surgery, having already missed two months of the campaign with a similar injury since arriving at The Hawthorns.
Carlos Corberan confirmed it was the “worst news we can give” on the 24-year-old, after he was taken off before half time in his first Baggies start in the 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on 9 December.
Maja missed 10 Championship matches previously after he was first injured against Bristol City just shy of three months ago, and after only four games back in the team he has now had the same ankle ligaments damaged again to a worse degree and is set for at least double that amount of time out.
Even if he missed exactly four months he would be unavailable for 20 league games and any FA Cup ties in that time, and with the season ending three weeks later at home to Preston North End (4 May) his campaign looks like it may indeed be over already.
Depleted
Corberan will be wondering what it feels like to have a full compliment of forward options available to him, with Daryl Dike yet to feature at all this season following an achilles injury last April.
The American is hoped to be back in contention after Christmas but now Maja won’t be around either way, potentially for the remainder.
With Matt Phillips also out for months with a torn hamstring that could also feasibly end his season, and possibly his West Brom career, the Baggies are going to have to mount an assault on promotion with some notable figures not a factor.
Whether the manager will be given the opportunity to add to his squad in January to make up for it will likely depend entirely on the takeover getting over the line before that.
The Telegraph report (12 December) that Guochuan Lai is expected to grant exclusivity to one of three options on the £60million deal within 10 days, so the timings are going to be crucial with regards to that.
If it doesn’t get done with any time left in the window then the Spaniard is more likely to be at risk of losing further options than gaining any.
That he has West Brom fifth in the table as it is constitutes impressive work already but with serious injury blows mounting up he is now faced with having to up those levels even further.
In other West Brom news, a Sky Sports pundit has put the Baggies in the automatic promotion race already.