West Bromwich Albion have several first-team stars out of contract at the end of the current campaign but head coach Carlos Corberan has admitted that the club have opened talks with some unnamed players.
The Baggies have been in decent form recently, picking up three wins in their previous five league outings, including a comfortable 2-0 victory over promotion-hopefuls Cardiff City on Tuesday night, thanks to a goal from Mikey Johnston 30 seconds into his debut, followed by a strike from Andreas Weimann ten minutes from the end to seal all three points.
Bagging his first Albion goal in lightning quick time. ⚡️@mikeyjohnston10 talks us through it. 👇
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) February 14, 2024
This is the closest that the Midlands club have been to the Premier League since being relegated from the top-flight under Sam Allardyce almost three years ago. However, Corberan will have his work cut out for him at the end of the season, regardless of whether West Bromwich Albion earn promotion back to the promised land, due to the contract situations of many players.
A number of key stars are out of contract in July, including Matt Phillips, Kyle Bartley, Alex Mowatt, Cedric Kipre and Nathaniel Chalobah. However, the Spanish coach has revealed that the club are working behind the scenes to secure certain players’ futures at The Hawthorns.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after Tuesday night’s victory, Corberan said [quotes via Express & Star]:
“It is something I know the club is having conversations with them, to see if the club’s targets – with the players we want, want to keep working with us so that in both parts we have the desire to keep working together
“Important too is the financial expectation of the players is the same as the financial possibilities of the club. Those are the two things that need to be managed,” he continued.
“But I know the club is having conversations with the players, we know many finish the contracts and I think it’s something in the next weeks or months will happen. But I am not having the conversation as it is not one of my targets as the coach.”
“I work very aligned with the club, but I am not managing any type of conversation.”
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