West Brom have earned promotion back to the Premier League, following a two-year hiatus. The Baggies started the season off strong, but struggled towards the end of the season, claiming just three of twelve possible points in their final four matches. Fortunately, poor results from promotion rivals Brentford and Fulham meant that West Brom stayed in second and earned automatic promotion. However, the club definitely has work to be done. They tied an incredible 17 games, the joint-most in the Championship. It was lucky that those dropped points didn’t come back to haunt West Brom, and in the Premier League that won’t be the case. West Brom are looking to make a splash, however, and are linked to some of Europe’s brightest stars.
West Brom
The Baggies definitely are looking for attacking-minded players. Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has been linked, as well as Queens Park Rangers (QPR) winger Eberechi Eze. Morelos has been huge for Rangers’ Europa League success this season, and has teams all over Europe interested. The downside to signing the Colombian international is that Rangers want a massive fee. This might throw off West Brom, as they are expected to spend most of their transfer funds on winger Eze. Eze has scored 14 goals, and also has eight assists for Championship club Queens Park Rangers (not Rangers).
Eze has impressed all season, although he nearly cost West Brom promotion. In the final match of the season, West Brom needed a win to clinch automatic promotion. The Baggies had the lead against Queens Park until the 61st minute, when Eze made the game 2-2. Fortunately for West Brom, Brentford lost, meaning that Eze didn’t cost West Brom automatic promotion. If he had, West Brom would almost certainly be less interested.
A good, experienced option for the wing would be Jose Callejon. Callejon has been largely under appreciated this season, despite four goals and ten assists in all competitions for Napoli. His contract expires at the end of August, so Callejon could be signed for free. With his experience in Serie A and La Liga, Callejon could definitely be a good option and could help West Brom stay up.
West Brom are also reportedly look for a goalkeeper to compete for a starting spot. Sven Ulreich, the backup goalkeeper for Bayern Munich, is looking to be moved on as Bayern have competition in goal. Ulreich is a veteran who has been a great backup for the past few seasons for Bayern, and could potentially be signed for cheap. He would definitely be a more than capable backup, even if he did not become a starter. It also might be worth it for the Baggies to look into Dean Henderson, who Manchester United don’t believe is ready to start for the Red Devils. Henderson was incredible on loan for Sheffield United, and if he gets loaned out again, Henderson would be a superb option for West Brom.
Manager Slaven Bilic has Premier League coaching experience, so he can get the best of his players and signings. With some squad improvements, West Brom can surprise some people and finish higher up in the table, like Sheffield United last season.
Image courtesy of Антон Зайцев / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL.
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