Lewis Cox: West Brom must step back in order to make big strides
It’s been a difficult few days for Albion fans as squad weakening, rather than strengthening, has taken over.
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Over the past week or so the expected exit of player of the year Cedric Kipre has been confirmed and now in the space of just hours midfielder Okay Yokuslu and striker Brandon Thomas-Asante appear set to leave as well.
Defender Kipre was always set to depart. Albion wanted to keep him, but offers of top-flight football overseas were too much to refuse. He will do so with Stade Reims in France.
Yokuslu and Thomas-Asante, regulars and popular with both fans and players in Carlos Corberan’s side, were different cases for alternate reasons.
Albion are out of the mire, so to speak, under the ownership of Shilen Patel following Bilkul’s February takeover.
But that doesn’t mean financial hardship is over. Albion are in a period of recovery from the near-disastrously fatal position Guochuan Lai had them spiralling towards.
Furthermore, the EFL’s financial fair play regulations have a grip on the Baggies. If Albion losses in the latest set of accounts (£11million) were eyebrow-raising then the next set, for 2023/24, will be stomach-churning thanks to no parachute money and no (previous) ownership investment.
