West Brom to announce another new friendly as Carlos Corberan in talks with Ian Pearce
Carlos Corberan and his staff are expected back for the start of pre-season at West Brom soon, according to the Express & Star.
Lewis Cox reports [6 June] that the head coach is set to return before the players begin pre-season training on 27 June, and that Corberan, currently on holiday, remains in constant dialogue with head of football operations Ian Pearce.
The Spaniard has been linked with replacing Enzo Maresca at Premier League-bound Leicester City [Leicester Mercury], though no formal approach has taken place from across the Midlands.
Cox also relays the current status on another pre-season friendly for Albion: “One friendly, a trip to Cambridge late in the off-season on Friday 2 August, one weekend before the Championship kick-off.
“[There is] at least another friendly against domestic opposition expected.”
West Brom will work hard to keep Carlos Corberan
With work to be done on the transfer front in order to maintain a challenge against plenty of financially muscular Championship rivals, the last thing West Brom need is their battle leader being snatched by a club who have recently achieved what Albion are themselves attempting.
Corberan is a pragmatic and forward-thinking coach, and will – alongside the recruitment staff at The Hawthorns – have a detailed summer plan in reassembling his squad, which would be severely diminished if the club had to proceed without him.
Some have backed the 41-year-old to accept any forthcoming offer from the Foxes to replace his friend and new Chelsea chief Maresca, and despite heavily rumoured financial difficulties about to hit Leicester, the move would offer a direct route to Premier League football.
Albion players will know what to expect from their pre-season under Corberan – aside from the obvious physical intensity training – with a lot of ball work, heavy analysis and a lot of practical study on the fine intricacies of transitioning from a reliable defence to a dangerous attack.
In other West Brom news, the club are among several in the Championship leading the charge for changes to spending restrictions in the EFL.
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