West Brom are reportedly lining up a move for Hull City midfielder Leonardo da Silva Lopes this summer.
According to Football Insider, Slaven Bilic’s side are keen on the ‘highly-rated’ 21-year-old this summer, with the Tigers facing a battle to keep him at the KCOM Stadium after their recent relegation to League One.
The report suggests that Bilic is willing to offer the 21-year-old Premier League football next season, should he make the move to the Hawthorns ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
TIF Thoughts…
The young midfielder is currently valued at £900k by Transfermarkt, suggesting that it could be a relatively cheap deal for the newly-promoted Baggies to complete this summer. The Portuguese midfielder only joined Hull from Wigan in the summer of 2019 but could be on the move once again, unless he wants to be playing in the third tier next season.
Would Da Silva Lopes be a good signing for the Baggies?
Yes
No
In the most recent Championship season, Lopes made 40 appearances in the second division, contributing two goals and three assists, which saw him average a less than impressive 6.65 rating (per Whoscored). However, this was enough to see him rated as the 11th-best player across the season for Grant McCann’s side.
The departure of both Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt in recent weeks suggests that Bilic will certainly need to add midfield options to his side ahead of next season, but Lopes’ poor average rating across the season, as well as his lack of experience in the Premier League, suggests that the Baggies may be better looking elsewhere for another midfielder this summer.