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How can Alan Pardew use the January transfer window to re-invigorate West Brom?
Alan Pardew will have been under no illusions as to the scale of the task at hand when taking the helm from Tony Pulis at West Bromwich Albion.
Financial Fair Play (FFP) continues to closely monitor the club’s heavy investment in bringing in players, investment which has thus far failed to bear fruit for a Baggies side that has scored just 16 goals in their opening 22 Premier League games, conceding 30.
Such a run has left Albion in the bottom three with a meagre 16 points, four from safety with just two wins and ten draws to their name all season.
Pardew hasn’t managed to register a victory in the league as of yet, but has helped stem the tide somewhat with four draws from his eight matches in charge, including three clean sheets.
The FA Cup Third Round yielded a confidence-boosting first win in charge for the new manager. However, the Baggies putting in a professional performance to see of League Two high-flyers Exeter City in a 2-0 away victory.
Question marks remain as to just how much Pardew will have his hands tied by FFP regulations, but the areas in need of strengthening are strikingly obvious.
Goal-shy Albion lack a prolific goalscorer, and seeking out a match-winner will likely be first on the list of Pardew’s priorities, whilst the experienced boss will almost certainly be looking to add reinforcements to his leaky defence, particularly with the ever-present and reliable Jonny Evans continuing to be linked with a from the Hawthorns this January.
Addressing the club’s profligacy in front of goal first, Pardew still has a wealth of options to pursue in January, despite the recent blow of transfer target Cedric Bakambu, currently of Villarreal, for Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan. One such option, which may just prove a shrewd move on Albion’s part, is Liverpool forward Danny Ings.
Competition is inevitable in the Baggies’ bid to acquire the former Burnley and Bournemouth forward’s services, with the Reds prepared to allow Ings to leave on loan in a bid to re-ignite his career following a serious knee injury.
Ings netted 11 goals in his last full-season in the Premier League for Burnley back in 2014/15, with his last top-flight appearance coming against the Baggies on the final day of the 2015/16 campaign. Such a goal ratio would prove a useful contribution to Pardew’s squad, with both Jay Rodriguez and Salomon Rondon struggling for consistency in front of goal.
Pardew has in adding the Liverpool man to his forward-line, whilst the forward has also from former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, who is keen on bolstering his attacking options at Newcastle.
It is not the only transfer target on Albion’s radar that the Magpies are attempting to shoe-in on either, if reports from are to be believed, with both clubs believed to be in the market for Red Star Belgrade forward Richmond Boayke.
Despite failing to make the grade at Everton’s Europa League conquerors Atalanta, and only putting pen to paper on a permanent deal with Serbian outfit Red Star Belgrade in the summer, Boayke is one option that Pardew could pursue to remedy his side’s lack of cutting edge.
The Ghanaian has netted 17 times for club and country in the opening six months of Red Star’s season, including a purple patch of eight goals in three league matches.
Known for his pace and power, ESPN back in December, with Albion scouts thought to have been in attendance during Red Star’s goalless Europa League draw with Bundesliga side Cologne. Both clubs face heavy competition for the forward, however, with the linking Boayke with a move to Chelsea.
One option that would suit West Brom’s style of play particularly well is Bournemouth forward Benik Afobe, with the linking Albion and local rivals Wolves with a January move for the forward back in September.
Afobe had seemingly fallen down the pecking order at the Vitality Stadium following the return to fitness of Callum Wilson and the arrival of Jermain Defoe from Sunderland, but injury to the latter has thrust Afobe back into Eddie Howe’s plans over the festive period and the Cherries may be unwilling to allow him to leave in such circumstances.
Should Pardew’s pursuit of either of that forward trio prove fruitless, an alternative option may be that of Sheffield Wednesday striker Gary Hooper, back in October, alongside fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Brighton.
The forward picked up an injury in Wednesday’s Boxing Day victory at Nottingham Forest and hasn’t featured since, but has netted eleven goals already this campaign and could prove a clever investment upon his return to fitness.
With Wednesday’s promotion bid seemingly off the rails, with the club 16th in the Championship and having sacked manager Carlos Carvalhal, the Owls’ resolve to hold onto their main man could be seriously tested if Albion were to come in with a bid.
Hooper certainly has the goalscoring pedigree to succeed in the Premier League, having featured in the top-flight for Norwich in the past as well as having a hat-full of Champions League goals to his name from his time with Scottish giants Celtic, but the biggest doubt hanging over a move will be regarding when the forward will be match-fit again.
In spite of such permutations in the market, two attacking options do remain realistic for the Baggies. With Newcastle United content to provide competition for Albion targets, Pardew may well be tempted to pull off an audacious raid on St. James’ Park for out-of-favour striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Serb is a move away from Tyneside this month in pursuit of regular football having made just six appearances for the Magpies this season.
With opportunities scarce under Benitez, should Mitrovic attempt to force through a move, a bid may just tempt much-maligned Newcastle owner Mike Ashley to part ways with Mitrovic for a fee, even if it was to a Premier League relegation rival.
One Premier League club that may well be willing to part with a forward in Albion’s favour is Leicester City, with question marks looming over the future of their £30 million Algerian striker Islam Slimani.
The former Sporting Lisbon hit-man has fallen down the pecking order at the King Power Stadium since the departure of Claudio Ranieri last season, and hasn’t been helped by Shinji Okazaki’s recent return to form and the summer arrival of Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City.
Albion were monitoring the forward back in 2016 before he opted to sign for Leicester, and Pardew could do worse than attempt to lure the forward across the Midlands, particularly since his New Year’s Day strike against Huddersfield showcased that Slimani still has much to offer in the Premier League.
Time will tell on that front, however, as to whether that performance has subsequently propelled him back into the plans of Foxes boss Claude Puel.
Shifting focus to Pardew’s need to strengthen his defensive options, despite Jonny Evans’ future remaining uncertain, he appears in no panic to recruit a centre-half, following Ahmed Hegazi’s arrival in the summer and Gareth McAuley’s successful return to the side against Exeter.
The Baggies do notably lack depth in the right-back position though, with Craig Dawson having only recently returned to fitness, and Allan Nyom being the only natural alternative option in the position.
With Evans linked with a move to Arsenal, French outlet suggests that Albion may look for the Gunners to return the favour, in allowing them to sign French right-back Mathieu Debuchy.
With no Premier League appearances to his name this season, Debuchy is thought to be keen for a move away from the Emirates in the hope of forcing himself back into Didier Deschamps’ plans for the French National Team ahead of the World Cup, having missed out on Euro 2016 due to injury, and a switch to the Hawthorns could prove the ideal opportunity should Pardew make an approach.
Another realistic target at full-back, should the club approach him, is that of Stoke City defender Glen Johnson.
linked Pardew with a move for the capped England international in late December, who has fallen out of favour at Stoke City, having made a meagre four appearances for the Potters and not featured at all since October, with Geoff Cameron and youngster Tom Edwards preferred.
Johnson, a natural right-back who has also played on the left-side of defence in the past, is thought to favour a move away from relegation threatened Stoke, who recently parted company with under-fire manager Mark Hughes. The only potential spanner in the works of this transfer would be if Hughes’ successor sees fit to recall the full-back to the first-team picture at Bet365 Stadium.
Should Pardew have the capacity to invest in the full-back position this month, he may be tempted to turn to the Championship for more youthful options and build for the future at the Hawthorns.
An audacious approach would be to go knocking on the door of local rivals and league leaders Wolves in pursuit of their flying right-back Conor Coady, or alternatively Pardew could go on the hunt in South Yorkshire, with Barnsley right-back Andy Yiadom also an option.
£2.5 million rated Yiadom, formerly of League Two club Barnet, has gone from strength to strength since his move to Oakwell, and the Daily Mirror claimed back in November via the that the Baggies were closely monitoring the defender during Tony Pulis’ reign, with the club’s technical director Nicky Hammond attending the Tykes’ 4-2 home victory over Burton Albion in the Championship.
If Yiadom should not arrive this window, it is not inconceivable that Pardew should make a move for him in the summer at the expiration of his contract. Yiadom has already turned down a new deal with Barnsley and saw a move to Huddersfield fall through during the summer transfer window of 2017.
As for Coady, a move across the Black Country is the more unlikely of Pardew’s possible options, although did report that the Baggies and Newcastle United were monitoring the Wolves full-back following Nuno Espirito Santo’s Carabao Cup exit at Manchester City on penalties.
The former Liverpool and Sheffield United man has recently signed a new contract at Wolves and is valued at around £7 million.
Should Pardew bear the brunt of FFP in his bid to bolster his defence, however, a shrewd and quite frankly economical move he could look to make is for former Arsenal and Manchester City right-back Bacary Sagna, who has been a free-agent since his release from the Etihad in the summer.
The 34-year-old France international has made well over 25o Premier League appearances and comes with a wealth of experience from his time with the Gunners and the Citizens, and he featured in each of France’s Euro 2016 matches as they reached the final on home soil before bowing to Portugal.
Sagna has been keeping himself fit during the first-half of the season and so it shouldn’t take a great deal of time to build-up match fitness. Premier League rivals West Ham have already reaped the benefits of bringing one released right-back in from City in the form of Pablo Zabaleta, and the experience of Sagna may have an equally positive effect as the Baggies attempt to stave off relegation themselves.
The scale of Pardew’s recruitment and indeed whether he has the capacity to invest heavily in reinforcements this January remains to be seen with Financial Fair Play still a potential stumbling block, but with options in abundance to pursue this transfer window in any case, he has every chance of giving the Baggies a fighting chance to remain in the Premier League.