Luke Hatfield and Joseph Masi discussed West Bromwich Albion transfer news during the most recent edition of the Express and Star’s Baggies Broadcast podcast.
Masi spent some time talking about the latest with regards to Antonee Robinson and his potential departure from Wigan Athletic this summer, amid reports that Sheffield United have had a bid accepted for the left-back.
Robinson was close to making a move to Serie A club AC Milan back in January. The 23-year-old was set to join the Rossoneri for ‘an initial fee of £6m’ that could have increased to £10m with add-ons, as per the BBC, however, that move fell through after ‘a scan discovered an irregular heart rhythm’ during the player’s medical, as per The Independent.
West Brom were allegedly interested in the player this summer, however, as per The Sun, Sheffield United have ‘stepped in front’ of them in the race for the left-back’s signature, with Sky Sports recently reporting that the Blades have ‘had a bid of around £2m accepted’ for the player.
Masi discussed the latest news concerning Robinson’s potential transfer, saying: “The term Albion like to use is ‘box clever’. They like to say they box clever in the transfer market, they do box clever in the transfer market, there’s no doubt about that.
“Antonee Robinson would be a very, very good ‘box clever’ signing. The release clause is £2m – it’s not [the] £1.5m that’s been reported by some.
“Of course, Albion would pay £2m for him. At the end of the day, this was a lad who was joining AC Milan for £10m in January until he had this issue picked up with his heart which he’s now undergone a procedure for and is able to play again. He would’ve been the perfect Albion signing this summer, really.
“23 years old, they want youth, they want to bring the average age down, they’re conscious of resale values, they don’t want to be packing the squad out with old players. Very, very, very good left-back, looks to be that sort of player who can make that step up and they’re the players Albion are looking for, really.
“Fingers crossed, who knows, maybe his move to Sheffield United will collapse, but it looks very, very likely at this moment in time that he’s chosen Sheffield United over Albion.”
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It’s clear that Masi thinks Robinson would be a good signing for West Brom and that mightn’t be too surprising considering that he earned an impressive average match rating of 7.09/10 from his 38 Championship appearances last season for Wigan, according to WhoScored, which is a higher rating than all but three Baggies players earned during the campaign, including that of any West Brom left-back during the most recent league season.
However, considering that the Blades are said to be closing in on the player, Albion’s chances of signing Robinson don’t appear to be very good at present.