Some West Brom fans have been sharing their opinion that the club shouldn’t carry out a complete ‘squad overhaul’ in the summer transfer window, should the Baggies achieve promotion to the Premier League.
West Brom fan account @TheRainbowStand on Twitter, recently made a post broaching the topic of whether or not the Baggies would “show loyalty” to their current squad members, should they help the club to achieve promotion from the Championship this season.
West Brom currently sit atop the Championship table, with just 10 games left to be played this season. There is currently a six-point gap between the Baggies and third-placed Fulham, their nearest challengers currently sitting outside of the Championship’s automatic promotion places.
As a result of their current favourable league position, some Baggies supporters have started preparing themselves for what could be a return to England’s top-flight next season, discussing the potential transfer activity that the club may undertake in the coming window on social media.
Some West Brom fans have shared the view that the club should not undertake a “squad overhaul” this summer, with some citing Sheffield United as an example of a club faring well in the top-flight despite not changing too many of the elements of their squad upon achieving promotion to the Premier League.
10 of the 11 Blades players who have accumulated the highest number of minutes for Sheffield United in the Premier League this season were members of their promotion-winning 2018/19 squad. Despite, Sheffield United currently sit in eighth place in the Premier League table, which shows that promotion-winning teams may not need to change many elements of their squads to perform well in the higher division.
Read the posts from some West Brom fans calling for the club not to undertake a “squad overhaul”, should they achieve promotion to the Premier League for next season in the tweets below.
Do West Brom need a squad overhaul if they are promoted to the Premier League?YES, WEST BROM WILL NEED PLENTY OF NEW PLAYERS FOR NEXT SEASON
NO, WEST BROM'S TEAM WON'T NEED TOO MANY CHANGES
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In a season where we have hammered Nathan Ferguson for a lack of loyalty.
Will the club show loyalty to those players who get us back into the Premier League? (If/when we do)
Personally think theres a number who wouldnt be cut out for the Prem.
— WBA Rainbow Stand ? (@TheRainbowStand) March 1, 2020
There has been a lot of players that were wrote of before the season started who are now some of our best performers, so they deserve the chance in the premier league but we definitely need reinforcements but not a squad overhaul
— levi mulligan (@XLxMULLIGANx9X) March 1, 2020
Defence and striker investment needed. The rest are fine (assuming some of the loanees stay)
— powpowmatt (@powpowmatt) March 1, 2020
Go up, don’t overspend, have a crack at it, come back down if that’s what playing proper football (not negative Pullis ball) means and have another successful exciting season in the best league in the world!
— Justin Kelly (@kel_kiddy) March 3, 2020
Yeah look at villa but also look at sheffield. Dont have to spend the earth to be successful it’s about building a team we have a base at the minute building on that will see us cope. Big difference between building a team and buying one #wba
— Adam (@abaker2405) March 1, 2020
Who knows, everyone wrote Sheffield United off..
— Joe (@JoeDunn_97) March 1, 2020
Don’t need to spend £100m. Just look at Sheffield United. United were hardly world beaters in the Championship. Need to bring in players to fit in the team we’ve already started to build. Not just smash millions down the drain to make it look like the club is doing something.
— Hamza Darby (@hamzadarby) March 1, 2020
What do we think?
Aston Villa’s transfer activity this season may provide an example for West Brom to learn from should they achieve promotion to the Premier League. Villa’s total expenditure between last summer’s transfer window and this past January’s transfer window is £143.19 million, with the Villans making a net loss of £139.59 million. This is a higher net loss than any other Premier League club have made in the transfer market this season, according to Transfermarkt.co.uk.
Despite their high expenditure, Villa are currently in 19th place in the Premier League table, battling against relegation from England’s top-flight. Meanwhile, Sheffield United have spent £62.10 million this season and despite spending £81.09 million less than Aston Villa, they currently sit 11 places higher than the Villans in the Premier League table.
It may be fair to say that there are lessons for West Brom to learn from last season’s promotion-winning Championship sides, with regard to their transfer market activity should they earn promotion from the Championship this season.