West Bromwich Albion latest on contract and transfer news

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An update from the Albion.

Transcript

00:00Charlie, finally on to West Bromwich Abbey and now obviously we've mentioned a few sort

00:05of contract situations that were going on and how important it was to secure those.

00:10Is there any sort of progress with some of their key players from last season and what

00:14can you tell us on that on the transfer front so far in this window for Carlos Corbijn's

00:19side?

00:20Yes, so new contracts have been signed by key players you mentioned. Karl Bartley being

00:26one of those. He's a centre-back who's spent six years at the Hawthorn so far. He's now

00:31but still very capable as we saw at the end of last season. He's carrying on for another

00:35year and then potentially another 12 months after that if he reaches enough appearances

00:40in an Albion shirt. Still waiting on fellow centre-back Cedric Kiprae and what's going

00:45to happen with him. There's a lot of interest, especially from Turkey, potentially at the

00:49bottom of the Premier League as well for him. Probably West Brom's best player last season

00:54so that's understandable. But a decent contract offer is on the table, it's just waiting if

00:58he's going to be signing that one or not. Then Alex Mowat, the central midfielder who

01:02Corbijn used in that number eight position last season ahead of Jason Molumbi and then

01:06Molumbi got injured which helped Mowat solidify that even more. Interest for him at the top

01:10of the Championship and bottom of the Premier League as well but he has decided to stay

01:14for another two years. So two massive bonuses there I think to keep the current crop in.

01:20I think the Kiprae one though is a very nervous weight.

01:24And where is Albion looking to get their players from? Obviously you mentioned there that clubs

01:30at the bottom of the Premier League and top of the Championships are going to be looking

01:32at sometimes due to the fees and money they can spend clubs around that sort of mid-table

01:38in the Championships. So where does Albion look? Because there's a lot of difference

01:43between signing a Championship player or a Premier League player who might have got relegated

01:47for example. How important is it that you get these players that can offer that experience

01:53and the talent as well?

01:54Well I think it's going to have to look abroad and be a bit more outside the box. They've

01:58already signed a Malian central midfielder on a free transfer and then it looks in Scandinavia

02:03as well set to sign a young centre-back from there who's got the height he can pass out

02:07from the back. So that's some shrewd business from them. It's just trying to continue that

02:11run, make the most of that free agents market. Now that contracts have officially expired

02:16there are going to be so many players available that people might not have heard of but have

02:19the potential to come through and do well for West Brom. Okozlu was a really good example

02:25of that a few years ago. He's now such a key player and could be sold for about £10 million

02:29if the rumours are to be believed in Turkey. So it's just trying to find those gems again

02:34in the market that are hidden and continuing on from there. Because West Brom don't have

02:38the money to spend, they're going to have to be clever.

02:41And finally on them and their pre-season plans, what's it looking like? Because we've discussed

02:46how important it is that Coburn side sort of continue their consistency that they had

02:52at times of the season and hopefully find themselves ending up near the play-off places.

02:56They've got quite a few games coming up in pre-season. They've already reported back

03:00to full training. West Brom against Bolton is the first one and then again against Peterborough

03:06a week later. They're the 13th and the 20th of July. Then against Blackpool as well, Mallorca.

03:11That'll be a fun one against the Spanish opposition. Cambridge United on the 2nd of August and

03:16then followed up against Birmingham City, the local rivals that of course they won't

03:20face each other in league competition following Birmingham's relegation. But that's quite

03:24a fun one to kind of round off pre-season. But those two games are one day apart. So

03:28it gives pretty much everyone the opportunity to get 60, 70, 80 minutes maybe in for Coburn

03:33to figure out who exactly he wants to start on that opening day of the season.

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