West Bromwich Albion reporter Steve Madeley recently answered a reader’s question about Slaven Bilic and whether or not there is ‘any news’ about him being offered a new contract during a recent discussion on The Athletic.
Bilic became West Brom manager last summer and the 51-year-old Croatian has enjoyed a positive start to life at The Hawthorns, as he guided the Baggies to a second-place finish in England’s second tier during his first season at the club, earning promotion back to the Premier League for the 2020/21 campaign.
The Baggies lost fewer games than any other side in England’s second tier last season and they also had the joint-second-best goalscoring record of any Championship side last term.
During a recent discussion on The Athletic, one reader asked Madeley if there is ‘any news’ on Bilic being offered a new deal with the West Midlands club and the journalist replied to that reader, saying: ‘Nothing yet. I suspect adding [players] is No. 1 priority at the moment.’
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Judging by Madeley’s response to this question, it appears as though the Baggies are not focusing on Bilic’s contract right now, and instead are prioritising the signing of new players ahead of their Premier League return.
The Baggies have got until 5th October to sign new players in the current transfer window, however, with the West Midlands club set to kick off their Premier League campaign on 12th September, it may be understandable why they would be putting all of their attention on signing their desired transfer targets prior to the beginning of the Premier League season at present.
However, Bilic does have less than a year remaining on his current deal, and considering that he was successful during his first season at The Hawthorns, it may be understandable why some Baggies fans might be anxious for the club to tie him down to a longer-term deal.