OPINION
Aston Villa are lining up an £8million swoop to sign Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan in the January transfer window – but West Brom must ensure that they are able to blow their local rivals out of the water to get the Scotland international.
The Mirror has reported that Dean Smith has made re-signing Bannan, 28, his top priority for the winter window as he believes that the Villains were wrong to let him leave the club back in 2013.
However Aston Villa may other issues to worry about in their squad and Bannan is too similar a player to John McGinn, so Smith would be wasting a lot of money by potentially splashing £8million on the Scottish playmaker in January.
That is why West Brom must come in and aim to sign the left-footed midfielder, who can be a perfect partner for Jake Livermore in the centre of Darren Moore’s midfield and provided a much-needed link between the defence and rest of the side.
Bannan is one of the best central midfielders in the Championship.
He knows the division like the back of his hand having made 174 appearances in it throughout his career.
The former Crystal Palace midfielder is also at the peak of his career and can play a major role in West Brom’s bid to return to the Premier League in the second half of the campaign.
Chris Brunt has been very disappointing in the left-central role this season while Gareth Barry has had injury issues and Moore clearly isn’t a fan of Sam Field.
Even though the Baggies have three options in that role – four if you also include Wes Hoolahan – it is one that needs a massive upgrade and is a clear weakpoint in the side.
Albion’s back-three comes under a lot of pressure because of their lack of ball-playing ability but someone who can make the side tick like Bannan would be ideal to solve that issue.
Destroying Villa’s January plans would also be a sweet success for West Brom, who need to splash some cash if they want to get themselves promoted.