A recent report from Turkish publication Fotospor has claimed that Turkish club Fenerbahce are interested in appointing West Brom boss Slaven Bilic as manager of the club.
Bilic has got previous experience of managing in Turkey, having been in charge of Besiktas from June 2013 until May 2015. Bilic earned an average of 1.95 points per game in the Turkish Super Lig during his tenure as manager of Besiktas. The Croatian won 37 of his 65 league games in charge of the club.
Besiktas finished in third place in the Turkish Super Lig table in both the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons, with Bilic in charge. While he never won the Turkish Super Lig, Bilic’s previous experience in Turkey may make him an attractive potential manager for Fenerbahce, as the Croatian allegedly sits at the top of Fenerbahce club president Ali Koc’s wishlist, according to this recent report from Fotospor.
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With just nine games left to play in the 2019/20 EFL Championship season, Bilic’s West Brom side currently sit in second place in the Championship table. Bilic’s Baggies are currently sitting just a single point behind league leaders Leeds United, while third-placed Fulham, who are West Brom’s closest competitors outside of the Championship’s automatic promotion spots, are six points behind at the moment.
With his West Brom side on the verge of securing promotion to the Premier League, it may not come as a surprise to many Baggies fans that Bilic is allegedly being eyed up as a potential managerial appointment by other clubs.
However, should the Baggies achieve promotion to the Premier League this season, it may be tough for Fenerbahce to lure the Croatian manager away from The Hawthorns for next season. Upon being appointed West Brom boss, the BBC quoted Bilic as stating that the Baggies “have a short-term project and long project”, which they wanted him to “be the one to lead them in”.
If Bilic came to The Hawthorns with the idea of taking charge of a long-term project at the club, it may be unlikely that we will see him leave the Baggies should they achieve promotion to the Premier League for next season.