Tony Mowbray could solve West Brom problem with genius Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest transfer raid..
There are two soon-to-be free agents who could solve significant problems for West Bromwich Albion.
The Baggies are on the hunt for Championship play-off football for a second successive season – and the recent 2-0 win over Oxford United has bolstered those hopes – but Tony Mowbray isn’t without his problems at The Hawthorns.
Arriving mid-season was never going to be ideal for the new head coach but especially so given how tentatively Albion have had to tread in recent transfer windows. Concerns over the potential of breaching financial regulations have halted West Brom from being as competitive in the market as many of their rivals, leading to a host of problems.
Finishing in the top six is still a likely prospect given West Brom have lost so many fewer matches than the likes of Blackburn, Coventry, Bristol and Norwich but it’s not a certainty. And then the challenge of winning the play-offs themselves is a different kettle of fish with two of Leeds United, Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland effectively guaranteed to be competing in them.
Never say never, of course, but the odds are certainly stacked against the Baggies. If it’s the worst case scenario and another season in the Championship beckons, bolstering the squad will be a priority. With the pockets once again unlikely to be deep enough to properly compete, dipping into the free agents market could be a great way for Albion to plug necessary gaps.
There are 75 players in the Premier League with their contracts set to expire on June 30, so there are many options West Brom could consider. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin De Bruyne are obviously levels and levels above but there are probably around a dozen players who could become realistic targets.
For the sake of this article, we’ve analysed the list and picked two of the players we reckon West Brom could lure to The Hawthorns. There are two big issues in the squad, after all; Albion lost goalkeeper Alex Palmer to Ipswich Town in January and there’s a noticeable lack of depth on the left side of defence.
