Anthony Onifade

Sat 30 December 2023 12:10, UK

West Brom must quickly secure the future of defender Cedric Kipre at The Hawthorns after delivering yet another masterclass against Leeds.

Grady Diangana’s goal saw the Baggies move within three points of fourth-placed Leeds in the Championship with a 1-0 win over their playoff rivals at The Hawthorns on Friday (29 December).

The DR Congo attacker struck in the first half of a tight, breathless affair against a Leeds side who now have just one win in their past five games.

The result means West Brom cemented their position in the Championship play-off places, now sitting five points from seventh-placed Sunderland heading into 2024 after registering their second successive win.

It was a dogged and solid defensive display from the Baggies up against the most devastating attack in the division and Corberan needed three of his four centre-halves in Kipre, Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley to nullify the Whites’ threat.

All three of them excelled tremendously as Daniel Farke’s men were barely given a sniff all game but it was the contributions of Kipre that was arguably most notable, and with his contract coming to an end in 2024 [Transfermarkt], the Baggies will be silly not to address his future.

The 27-year-old has emerged as a key man for the Albion boss after returning from a season on loan at Cardiff City and amid extensive injury issues elsewhere within the squad has missed just one Championship start this term, where he was on the bench for the goalless draw with Millwall on 23 September.

Express & Star reported on 20 December that the club will have to “balance” new contract talks with Cedric Kipre against an ongoing need to reduce the wage bill while the “uncertainty” around the takeover situation remains.

Indeed, West Brom are embroiled in a tough financial bother right now with their Premier League parachute payments coming to an end and majority stakeholder Guochuan Lai’s incompetence at the top.

Securing the futures of Kipre will of course be difficult as will trying to offload a few fringe players in order to cut down the current wage bill.

However, the Baggies don’t need to put pen to paper on a new deal for the defender but ensure him and his representatives that they will address his situation once they receive takeover clarity in the coming months.

Kipre will be free to speak to other clubs when the January window opens within days and West Brom will lose as much letting him go as they would potentially keeping him beyond next summer.

Given his recent displays, it’s an absolute no-brainer Corberan and the West Brom board kick off some sort of preliminary talks now.

In West Brom’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City last time out, Kipre showed his incredible quality both in and out of possession, completing 91 per cent of his 65 attempted passes, more than any other player on either side. Off the ball, the defender won seven of his nine attempted duels both in the air and on the ground [Fotmob].

Few players in the Championship have been as dominant in the tackle as Kipre this season. The 27-year-old tackles more dribblers per game than 85 per cent of the division’s centre-backs per 90 minutes and has won more challenges in the defensive third than 86 per cent of his positional peers [Fbref].

On top of that, the Baggies star places in the 83rd percentile for interceptions made per game and the 88th percentile for the highest percentage of aerial duels won per 90 minutes. Kipre has been dominant at the heart of defence at The Hawthorns so far this season.

His qualities were on show for all to see, even Leeds United as he pulled up yet another masterclass.

As per SofaScore, the Baggies ever-present was awarded the best average rating of any player on the pitch at 7.9/10, completing 97 per cent of his passes, registering four clearances, five blocks, winning two interceptions and completing 100 per cent of his long balls.

Strangely enough, Kipre failed to register a single tackle or ground duel but certainly didn’t need to as he had Okay Yokuslu and Alex Mowatt performing those roles in front of him.

All he needed to do was form a stout and dogged rear-guard in front of Alex Palmer that Leeds couldn’t break and he exceeded tremendously.

If West Brom allow the 27-year-old to leave for nothing at the end of the season, it will cost a hell of a lot to sign a new centre-back capable of performing at that level.

Whoever takes over at The Hawthorns has to tie the defender down to a new deal as soon as is possible.

In other West Brom news, a lack of any update on the takeover situation could prove a cause for concern.