Credit: Imago

Daniel Lewis

Wed 13 May 2026 10:31, UK

West Bromwich Albion are days away from making an official decision over the futures of their out-of-contract players.

Six Albion players are set to see their existing deals come to an end at The Hawthorns over the next month or so.

Jed Wallace is arguably the highest-profile of the lot, while Josh Maja, Karlan Grant and Daryl Dike are also technically set to become free agents.

Goalkeepers Max O’Leary and Joe Wildsmith are the other two awaiting a decision one way or another, if not already informed.

West Brom’s squad will become a lot clearer come the end of the week, however.

West Brom must announce retained squad list this week

Thanks in no small part to James Morrison‘s impressive work, West Brom can look forward to another season of Championship football in 2026-27.

That makes planning far easier than it would have been had the Baggies gone down, when the squad would have to be adapted for a far smaller budget.

West Brom’s immediate priority is on their out-of-contract players, before focus can then turn to strengthening when the summer window opens.

And as per EFL rules, clubs have until this Saturday to confirm their retained list on the back of the 2025-26 season.

Only the teams competing in the playoffs are allowed to delay that decision, for obvious reasons.

It means that come this weekend, Albion fans should know whether the aforementioned names will still be West Brom players come next season.

However, if a contract has been offered to a player but not yet signed, there will still be some uncertainty.

But ultimately we will know which players will definitely not be here beyond the summer.

James Morrison makes West Brom contract calls a lot easier

In an alternative world, Morrison would have gone the same way as the two others before him this past season and Albion faced the drop.

As it is, Morrison kept the Baggies up – despite a two-point deduction – and now plans can begin in earnest for a new chapter.

Given Morrison was at the helm for 13 matches, he would have learned enough about the vast majority of his playing squad – the caveat being Wallace was out injured for a while.

Morrison will surely have a major say in whether the likes of Wallace, Maja and Dike should be offered new deals.

And fans certainly will not have to wait long now to find out if that is indeed the case.