West Bromwich Albion podcaster Chris Lepkowski has been sharing his thoughts on Baggies defender Cedric Kipre and his current situation in the wake of Ahmed Hegazi’s recent departure from the Midlands club.
This comes after Lepkowski recently co-hosted the latest episode of West Brom-themed podcast The Liquidator, where he discussed a variety of subjects concerning Slaven Bilic’s side.
On the topic of Kipre and the possibility of him stepping up with Hegazi no longer at the club, Lepkowski had this to say on the matter.
He said: “He’s not played in the Premier League – so that really tells you all you need to know about how or what Slaven Bilic thinks of him.
“I mean, Kipre might well be a very talented, very good player, but the fact is that Bilic does not rate him – and that’s the key. If your head coach doesn’t particularly like a player, and you and I both saw that interview a few weeks ago, where Slaven Bilic looked like he was about to start crying when he was talking about Kipre.
“If he feels that Kipre isn’t good enough, then what is the point? You might as well invest a little bit more and bring in a defender who Bilic is comfortable with or happy with or will actually provide some competition for those guys who need it.”
West Brom signed Kipre last month from Wigan for a fee of £990k. Since then, the 23-year-old, who is currently valued at £1.08 million, has made just two appearances for the Baggies, both in the Carabao Cup.
In West Brom’s 3-0 win over Harrogate Town in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season, Kipre assisted Hal Robson-Kanu’s goal to put the Baggies 2-0 up on the night.
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TIF Thoughts on Chris Lepkowski’s comments on Kipre…
Listening to what Lepkowski had to say on the matter, it appears that he thinks Kipre will need to win over Bilic before he can start playing in the Premier League for West Brom.
With Hegazi’s recent departure, there is a place available that Kipre could look to take advantage of and try and get some playing time in the top flight, but it remains to be seen whether he can make the most of this opportunity.