Mowbray to hold Bartley talks in new contract admission at West Brom
Kyle Bartley’s contract situation at West Brom still remains a little unclear.
Bartley is closing in on the end of his contract at West Brom, though he will trigger an automatic extension if he hits a certain number of appearances.
What that figure is has not been made public but the 33-year-old has featured 21 times in the Championship this season.
Baggies boss Tony Mowbray opened up on the situation when discussing Bartley prior to West Brom’s Championship clash against QPR at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Mowbray drops Bartley contract hint at West Brom
Bartley returned to action with West Brom in the 1-1 draw against Leeds United last time out after serving a three-match ban for getting sent off after the final whistle against Sheffield Wednesday last month.
He turns 34 in May but has remained a regular fixture in the Baggies’ backline this term and Mowbray hinted that talks are going to take place regardless of whether Bartley triggers an extension automatically.
| Opponent | Home or away |
| QPR | Home |
| Burnley | Away |
| Hull City | Home |
| Norwich City | Away |
In quotes reported by the Express & Star (8 March), Mowbray said: “In my mind Kyle Bartley is an important footballer for the club.
“I sit here hoping he has a lot of football left in him this season, if that triggers or doesn’t trigger something I still think there’s conversations to be had.
“This club has had to readjust its outlook on salaries and wages.”
West Brom have key decisions to make
West Brom have decisions to make on not just Bartley but John Swift too, with the attacking midfielder also nearing the end of his contract.
With the Baggies sitting sixth in the table and hoping to make the Premier League via the play-offs, it is difficult to imagine those talks occurring before the end of the season.
Ultimately, until they know what division they will be playing in next season it would be foolhardy to think about contracts because it is obviously a determining factor in what decisions they make.
Hopefully, those decisions will be made with Albion a Premier League club and backed by the financial muscle of top-flight football.
But that remains a huge if with the race for the top six so tight, let alone the prospect of the lottery of the play-offs.
Hopefully the uncertainty over contracts can have a positive effect with both players doing all they can to show their worth to the team, and help Albion achieve their ultimate aim of promotion.