OPINION
West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore has struggled to find a consistent partnership in central midfield this season, something that could be rectified by a January move for Sunderland star Lee Cattermole.
The veteran midfielder is enjoying a phenomenal start to the season with the Black Cats in League One, scoring three goals and claiming one assist with Jack Ross’s team starting the new campaign impressively.
Moore has got to be looking at the player and wondering whether he can tempt him away with a January bid for his services.
Cattermole would be the perfect player to supplement a Baggies midfield unit which has failed to find its feet in the Championship this term.
Jake Livermore and James Morrison have been decent, but Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt no longer have the legs to win a midfield battle, while youngster Sam Field doesn’t fully appear to have the trust of his manager at this moment in time.
It’s clear, then, that another body is needed in the middle of the park. Cattermole would be able to provide the energy and tenacity that Brunt and Barry no longer can.
Famously combative, with Cattermole in the starting eleven there’s no team that would escape the Hawthorns without a fight.
The 30-year-old is younger than you’d think and still has plenty of good years ahead of him. He’s shown in the past for Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic that he is good enough to operate at Premier League level, and that’s where West Brom are looking to be come next season.
Moore must realise that the current situation in central midfield is untenable. The Baggies boss needs to act in January to avoid seeing his team lose the midfield battle on a regular basis.
Cattermole is the perfect player to ensure that doesn’t happen. The Englishman is too good for League One and West Brom should be doing everything they can to persuade him to swap the Stadium of Light for the Hawthorns come the winter transfer window.