Frank Skinner shared it was good to know that West Bromwich Albion weren’t about to offer Premier League wages in order to sign Newcastle United attacker Dwight Gayle.
West Brom technical director Luke Dowling confirmed on Sunday that the Baggies would not attempt to sign the forward from the Magpies despite him scoring 24 goals while on loan at the club in his 2018/19 campaign.
“Dwight’s contract is a Premier League contract,” Albion technical director Luke Dowling told BBC WM, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“We will pay Premier League contracts but only when we are back in the Premier League.
“I know it won’t be the news Albion fans want to hear, but they need to trust us and know we are doing everything right for this football club.”
However Skinner when delivering his verdict on that update on Gayle didn’t seem too fussed and even pointed out the player was one of the first to say goodbye after the Baggies lost to Villa.
“No he was one of the first to say goodbye and it’s good to know we’re not offering (Premier League money) though,” said Skinner on talkSPORT (15:10, Monday May 20th).
Skinner then cracked a joke about West Brom’s loss in the play-off semi-final to Aston Villa by saying that if you’re going to have two-legs it would be nice to play with 11-men on the pitch in one of them.
“Well I think if you’re going to have two legs, it’s good to try and complete one of them with a 11-men so it was a blow but I’m not in it for the glory,” added the comedian.
OPINION
It seems Skinner can make light of a disappointing situation for his club and hopefully other WBA supporters will feel the same too. After being relegated to the Championship last season, many thought the Baggies had a squad capable of instantly firing them back into the Premier League but that hasn’t been the case. Even though WBA had one of the most formidable attacks in the division, due to Gayle and Jay Rodriguez, they just didn’t have enough to get out of the highly competitive league. However with the right signings in the summer, the Baggies will surely have as good a chance of any of reaching the Premier League once again. When you consider that Gayle is likely on mega-money due to playing for a massive club like the Magpies, it makes sense that West Brom don’t want to shell out on him again. The Baggies no doubt have to reduce their wage bill as they probably weren’t planning on spending more than one season in the Championship.