Jed Wallace reacts to West Brom exit news at The Hawthorns – ‘Unbelievable’
Jed Wallace believes the attitude of the cohort of out-of-contract West Brom players towards the business end of the season has been “unbelievable”.
Wallace has been full of praise for teammates going the extra mile to return to fitness, to ensure they were available as Albion reached the Championship play-off semi-finals.
Seven senior players were released from The Hawthorns earlier this week, it was confirmed.
As quoted by the Express & Star, 30-year-old Wallace said: “The likes of Matty Phillips. I’ve seen players in my career that could’ve taken another six weeks after a serious injury when he’s out of contract and he pushed himself to get back.
“That’s what we’ve got in the group. There is uncertainty about where they are going to be but the lads who are out of contract have been unbelievable.”
West Brom begin life without several first-team stars
With seven contracted players alongside four loanees departing West Brom, Carlos Corberan and the Albion board have a considerable task on their hands to restructure the squad to go one better next term.
A key part of this summer’s agenda is securing the futures of the integral trio of Kyle Bartley, Cedric Kipre and Alex Mowatt, who have all been offered new contracts.
Corberan may also look to revisit part of the loan quartet the club recruited during 2023-24, most notably Mikey Johnston – who made an excellent impact with seven goals since arriving short-term from Celtic, where he is out of favour with Brendan Rodgers.
Phillips departing after 255 appearances constitutes a new chapter at The Hawthorns, but at 33 it makes sense for both parties to part ways.
Nathaniel Chalobah played 33 times in the Championship this season but it gives a slightly false impression, as only seven were starts and the midfielder only clocked up 883 minutes of action.
Erik Pieters, Adam Reach and Yann M’Vila were also among those to depart as West Brom trim their squad ahead of a huge push next campaign.
In other West Brom news, one youngster offered a new deal can become an established first-teamer next season.
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