West Brom find out what they need to pay for Alex Palmer reunion as Ipswich face conundrum

West Bromwich Albion's eyes will water at Ipswich Town's Alex Palmer valuation.

The 30-year-old is comfortably down the goalkeeping pecking order at Portman Road.

Indeed, Ipswich have signed two new shot-stoppers in the form of Kayne van Oevelen and Kjell Scherpen this summer.

Remarkably, Ipswich have five senior goalkeepers on their books currently, and as such, will surely be looking to offload a couple before the transfer deadline.

Palmer, who should still have a host of good years left in the tank, has been widely touted as being on the Tractor Boys' chopping block.

A return to The Hawthorns has been suggested as a possibility, but if that's to happen, then West Brom will need a lot of help from Suffolk.

Why Ipswich's Alex Palmer price tag is holding transfer exit back

West Brom have been tipped to work on a return for Palmer right from before the transfer window even opened this summer.

He remains a hugely popular figure in B71, and could provide stronger competition for Max O'Leary than Matt Ingram, respectfully.

But, Albion look set to have to fork out a very sizeable fee if they wish to bring their former academy graduate back home.

Alan Nixon claims via Patreon on Sunday that Ipswich value Palmer at around £6.5million.

The report states that this asking price will have to be lowered if they wish to find a buyer.

Nixon claims that said valuation has already served to cost Palmer a couple of transfer possibilities, but that he remains on a number of sides' shortlist.

So, what would be a fairer price for Palmer, and how much should West Brom realistically be willing to pay?

Why West Brom should let any Palmer reunion plan rest

Undoubtedly a quality goalkeeper at Championship level, Palmer would be a good number one option for most second-tier sides.

In West Brom's current situation, however, they should definitely be ruling with their head over their heart.

The aforementioned O'Leary is now tied down until 2029, and the 29-year-old played arguably his best game in the 2-1 win over Norwich last weekend.

So, James Morrison won't see any need to go hunting for a new number one keeper in what remains of the window.

Meanwhile, Ingram is an experienced EFL goalkeeper, and so signing Palmer for a seven-figure fee just to have him as the backup doesn't make much financial sense.

West Brom know how important it is to stay within their financial remit too, especially after 2025-26.

Therefore, given where Palmer is at in his career, his more accurate market value should probably be somewhere between £3-4m.

But if you're West Brom, if he's not attainable for between £1-2m, then it's probably not a deal worth exploring at this moment in time.