Corberan shares what Emery told him about Dobbin before West Brom and Aston Villa loan
West Brom loanee Lewis Dobbin has been sent to the club by Aston Villa to “develop, work and play”, manager Carlos Corberan has said.
The Baggies boss was speaking in his first pre-match press conference of the new EFL Championship season, and said that he’d discussed the 21-year-old winger directly with the Aston Villa manager.
Dobbin had only signed for Villa from Everton on 23 June in a £9million transfer, but arrived at The Hawthorns on a season-long loan just two weeks later on 6 August with a view to increased game time.
In quotes reported by Birmingham Live (9 August), Corberan said: “I was talking with Unai about (Dobbin) – there was always the possibility that they would develop the player.
“It was understood he needed to go to the Championship to work and play, to develop. Every player we receive on loan, we try our best to develop the player.”
Lewis Dobbin can light up the Championship with West Brom
Despite only arriving on loan from the Albion’s West Midlands neighbours, Dobbin has the ability – and hopefully the application – to do much more than just “develop” at The Hawthorns this season.
Mikey Johnston had a transformational effect on Corberan’s side in the latter half of the last campaign, managing seven goals and two assists in just 20 matches as the Baggies finished fifth.
Having Dobbin for an entire season not only gives Corberan more time to integrate the England youth international into his system, but also allows the Spaniard to build the side around the Villa loanee.
Although his 6 August arrival date has only given Dobbin four days to settle into life at The Hawthorns before Albion’s first Championship match against QPR, he could have a big impact right from the off.
Harking back to the 2018/19 campaign gives reminders of the performances made by Harvey Barnes in his half-season spell at West Brom, and having Dobbin for double that time could produce similar results.
In other West Brom news, the club owned by Kylian Mbappe’s company have signed a player who recently left The Hawthorns.
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