OPINION
West Bromwich Albion must keep key stars Craig Dawson and Jay Rodriguez because their quality could prove vital in the race for promotion next season.
It was expected that Premier League relegation would lead to some players wanting to leave The Hawthorns, and so it’s proved.
However, the characters that you would have expected to throw their toys out of the pram about leaving have stayed, and the long-serving fan favourites are the ones who are demanding to leave.
Jonny Evans, Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill, Claudio Yacob and Gareth McAuley have gone, whilst Nacer Chadli, James McClean, Kieran Gibbs and Gareth Barry are still at the club. Who would have thought it?
Top-flight clubs are interested in the Albion players, it’s only natural, with Craig Dawson and Jay Rodriguez the next to be coveted.
As reported by The Mirror’s live transfer blog (12:03pm), Burnley manager Sean Dyche is determined to sign the duo and has already had a joint £25million bid rejected, with the Baggies reportedly wanting a fee of £40million for both.
It’s claimed that both Dawson and Rodriguez are keen to leave the club to join Burnley.
These two players have embraced the family nature and culture at the club. They’ve been nothing less than consummate professionals in their time at The Hawthorns and if they did leave they would leave on good terms, but boss Darren Moore cannot allow that to happen.
It’s understandable that these two players want to play Premier League football but it’s only 12 months, they should stay and help the club get promotion, especially after they played a major part in an awful relegation season.
They should prove to themselves, Moore and the WBA fans that they care, and help the club get back to where they belong. That would be redemption.
Also, it’s going to take a lot of work to replace the quality of those two players, should they leave. 28-year-old Dawson is an awesome defender who is also a big danger from set-pieces, that’s hard to replace. Whilst 28-year-old Rodriguez would score a bucket load of goals in the Championship, which could be invaluable.
Darren Moore’s job is hard as it is, it will be even harder if he is to lose two of his best players.