Don Goodman questions West Brom ambitions amid Tom Fellows to Everton transfer news
Don Goodman believes whatever decision West Brom take on Everton-linked gem Tom Fellows in January will determine just how ambitious the club are.
Alan Nixon reported on 27 October that Everton are keeping a close eye on Fellows ahead of the transfer window reopening in around seven weeks’ time.
Pundit Carlton Palmer recently said Albion would be “foolish” to consider any offers for one of their key men [Football League World, 30 October], but it remains unclear what exactly the Baggies’ stance is.
Discussing the latest transfer rumour regarding Fellows exclusively with West Brom News, Goodman said: “You’ve got to ask yourself exactly what are the ambitions for West Bromwich Albion?
“Do you want to become a club that sells its best players and pockets a few millions here and there, but then has no chance of getting to the Premier League? Or do you want to be an ambitious Championship club fighting to get into the Premier League year after year?
“If it’s the latter then they cannot – and should not – sell their best players. They’re still in touching distance of the automatic promotion zone and it’s about chasing the team nearest to them.
“They have to be ambitious and there’s not been a better season than this in recent seasons in terms of a club like West Brom going up. To me, that is surely where the ambitions lie for the new ownership.”
West Brom should reject any Everton bids for Tom Fellows
Money talks, of course, and Shilen Patel would have every right to consider a big-money offer for Fellows in January.
Supporters of any club do not particularly have their side’s finances in mind when it comes to buying and selling players – they just want the best players they can get their hands on.
At the same time, the Baggies have to weigh up the long-term impact of selling a player like Fellows who, while not fully at it this season, remains key to West Brom’s hopes of going up this term.
If he is to be sold in January and no like-for-like replacement is found, that would be a huge blow to the club’s hopes of earning promotion.
Unless a particularly large offer is made, then, which on the face of it seems unlikely right now, this is a deal that does not make sense from West Brom’s perspective.
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman has sympathy for an Albion ace who may not play for the club again.
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