Joseph Masi and Luke Hatfield discussed all of the latest West Bromwich Albion news on the most recent edition of The Express and Star’s Baggies Broadcast podcast and they spent some time talking about Charlie Austin’s loan departure from The Hawthorns during the show.
Austin has re-joined Queens Park Rangers for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign. This departure may not deal a significant blow to Allardyce’s first-team plans, given that the 31-year-old striker didn’t play a key role for the Baggies this term, enjoying just 133 minutes of Premier League football and failing to score a single goal this term for the West Midlands club.
With that in mind, it may be understandable why Allardyce sanctioned his loan departure this month and while discussing that decision during this podcast, Masi explained that Austin’s departure may hand Allardyce a boost in his January pursuit of two strikers, with the West Brom boss recently revealing that he is considering making two new additions to his squad upfront this month.
The journalist said: “That is a positive, really, if Austin’s move has freed up wages for a second striker, I think that’s a good thing, I really do.”
Will West Brom sign two strikers this month?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Masi had to say about West Brom’s potential transfer boost…
Considering that Austin was the highest-paid player at The Hawthorns, on £70k per week, with the vast majority of West Brom’s squad earning less than half of that, it may be understandable why Masi seemingly believes that his loan departure could give Allardyce a boost in his pursuit of two strikers.
Considering that Austin hadn’t been a key player for West Brom this term and knowing that only two Premier League sides have scored fewer goals than Albion this season, the decision to send the 31-year-old out on loan could certainly be viewed as a wise call.
If, as Masi speculated, this helps West Brom to now recruit two strikers who fit Allardyce’s requirements and bring more goals to the Baggies than Austin brought this season, then that could surely hand the Baggies a big boost in their relegation battle.