West Brom can spend on replacement if ‘big player’ sold at The Hawthorns
West Brom may need to focus on sales to fund any more incomings at The Hawthorns this summer.
The Baggies have confirmed the arrivals of Aune Heggebo, Nat Phillips and George Campbell so far, but head coach Ryan Mason will hope to see further reinforcements signed in the coming weeks.
Several further players have been linked with a move to the West Midlands, but West Brom are yet to make significant progress on a fourth incoming.
West Brom may be forced into sale
Whilst the Baggies have brought in just three players, they have spent around £7million – a sizable fee for the Championship.
The bulk of that figure came in the signing of Heggebo, who arrived from Norwegian club Brann in a deal worth around £4.75m.
The striker should supply Mason’s front line with quality, and that same quality is apparent at the back in the signing of Phillips, who arrived from Liverpool for around £2m.
| Nat Phillips | Championship (2024/25) |
| Appearances | 32 |
The defender has impressed in pre-season so far, having spent most of his recent career on the books of the Premier League champions, making 29 appearances for them along the way.
But signings of such calibre have come at a significant outlay, with Lewis Cox (24 July) claiming that further incomings could be replacements should a “big player” leave.
Despite explaining that the pot is not empty, Cox said: “Any player that leaves will be replaced is my reading and understanding of it.
“If a ‘big player’ left for a sizable fee, there’d be a lot there to work with in terms of replacement, in terms of maybe replacing them with two, three, factoring in loan fees as well, potentially.
“But if players leave who are more on the fringes for lesser fees – yes, it all helps the pot, but obviously would free up lesser financial room to work in.”
West Brom may scour loan market
West Brom’s lack of firepower remaining for transfers appears to be an issue related to the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), rather than a lack of funds.
The rules prevent clubs from outweighing their sales massively with their expenditure for incomings, hence the possible future need for a sale this summer.
But the Baggies could instead turn to the loan market. Several young players could look to leave their Premier League clubs temporarily this summer, and Mason’s history of youth management could prove attractive.
One talent who could be loaned out this summer is Mikey Moore, with West Brom previously registering their interest in the Tottenham teenager.
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