West Brom make Josh Griffiths announcement as new admission made
Josh Griffiths committed his long-term future to West Bromwich Albion with a goal to eventually usurp Alex Palmer as the Baggies’ number one.
Albion confirmed with a post on their website [28 June] that Griffiths has penned a new deal until 2027 at The Hawthorns, having made three FA and League Cup appearances last season.
Griffiths said that despite current first-choice Alex Palmer being “probably the best goalkeeper in the league”, his goal is to become a regular between the sticks for the Baggies before too long.
Having made 113 first-team appearances out on loan compared to just 13 with Albion in his career so far, though, it could be some time before the 22-year-old is truly knocking at the door.
Josh Griffiths must follow Alex Palmer’s lead for West Brom
Like many goalkeepers of his age, Griffiths is yet to truly break through into the senior first team, with most of his career experience so far coming in various loan spells.
While 10 league starts – all in the 2022/23 season – seems sluggish, Griffiths has no need to feel that his time won’t come at The Hawthorns, and he has the perfect academy role model to emulate in this year.
Undisputed first-choice stopper Palmer, who kept 19 clean sheets during the last campaign, didn’t made his league debut for the Baggies until he was 26; just under two years ago in October 2022.
Prior to that long-awaited Championship start, Palmer had amassed 106 EFL matches out on loan across the divisions, the majority of which came at Plymouth Argyle and Lincoln City in Leagues Two and One respectively.
Therefore, it’s clear that while Griffiths has little chance of being picked over Palmer any time soon, heading back out on loan to clubs like Cheltenham Town, Lincoln and Portsmouth (where he’s already been) could be the youngster’s best bet of truly seizing the opportunity if and when it finally arrives.
On a selfish level, though, Carlos Corberan would no doubt prefer to keep Griffiths in reserve in case the worst-case scenario happens and Palmer sustains any sort of injury that rules him out next season.
In other West Brom news, Corberan will be delighted after an international boost for one of his players.
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