OPINION
West Bromwich Albion chiefs will surely regret not selling Jay Rodriguez sooner even though they could drive a hard bargain for him this summer with Bournemouth and Burnley keen.
The Express & Star reported on Monday that Burnley and Bournemouth were both interested in the 29-year-old Baggies forward and claimed he could be one of a number of players that depart the Hawthorns despite him having two-years left on his deal.
The newspaper stated that Albion wanted around £20million for Rodriguez last summer, Burnley bid £16million at that time, but that he is likely to go for less this time.
This is likely the case because both Burnley and Bournemouth will be aware that Rodriguez probably won’t fancy another season in the Championship, especially with two Premier League clubs circling.
That isn’t lost on West Brom technical director Luke Dowling either as he previously claimed that some members of the Baggies’ current squad may think they need to move to the Premier League this summer or they could be stuck in the Championship.
“A lot of them, with the age that they’re at, will be thinking ‘if I don’t go to the Premier League now then I could spend the rest of my career in the Championship,” said Dowling, as quoted by the Express and Star.
While West Brom have Rodriguez tied down to a lengthy enough contract to be in a good selling position, the fact the player will likely try to force through a move this summer, the Daily Mail claimed he pleaded with the club to let him leave in 2018, it does weaken their stance in negotiations.
The Baggies stood strong last time, but after surprisingly not instantly winning promotion back to the Premier League, it does seem understandable that their position has changed.
As they have to make themselves more financially sustainable to deal with life in England’s second-tier again.
Rodriguez may have wowed in his 2018/19 campaign, he scored 22 goals in 48 outings, but given his price tag is set to be lower this summer, the Baggies board are surely regretting not cashing in last summer.
Keeping the 29-year-old didn’t lead to promotion like they clearly expected and in hindsight it’s seems likely they would of rather had the bigger pay day.