West Brom have had a shaky Championship season despite many feeling it would be a campaign in which the side thrived and potentially pushed on towards promotion.
With Valerien Ismael at the helm and new signings like Alex Mowatt and Jordan Hugill looking promising, the Baggies struggled to get going and ended up parting ways with their boss at the beginning of 2022.
The side slipped down the division and ended up having to settle for a top half finish once Steve Bruce had come in and steadied the ship. Now, the former Newcastle boss will want to clear out some of the deadwood in the side and ensure his team are well equipped to well and truly go for a top six place next season.
Here then, are two players who may face an uncertain few weeks at the Hawthorns…
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Kenneth Zohore
It’s still fairly unclear as to where the future of Kenneth Zohore lies. The forward has been cast out of the West Brom squad and it looked like he would be offloaded as soon as possible, only for new boss Steve Bruce to claim that he actually could use the striker again next year.
In fact, it looks as though he will get the chance to prove himself in a training camp soon – and if he impresses, then it could really put him back into the thoughts of the manager and even get him back onto the field in the next Championship season for the Baggies.
If he fails to impress though and other forward options do more to show they deserve a spot in the first team, then it might be back to square one for the former Millwall man. He might end up not getting an opportunity again – and if that is the case, then he should likely be sold on to free up squad and wage space.
Whether anyone would take him yet is unclear but this training camp could really cement his future with the Baggies or show that his future lies at a different club.
Matty Phillips
There hasn’t been any interest or real inkling yet that Phillips could be on his way out of West Brom but considering the type of player that Steve Bruce appears to be targeting, you would have to call his future into question.
The Baggies are chasing a deal for Jed Wallace, who can play in a similar role to Phillips and have also already snapped up John Swift from Reading. There are various other forward options who have all been spoken about and names have been thrown around amongst fans over the last few weeks too and it suggests there might not be room for all of them at the club.
Phillips seems the most sellable of the current attacking options at the Hawthorns too. He made 28 appearances in the league last season but could only manage small cameos rather than full 90-minute stints most of the time.
He played the full 90 in their last game against Barnsley but, prior to that for example, he could play in only 19 minutes against Coventry, 16 against Nottingham Forest, and 32 against Blackpool. Grady Diangana and Callum Robinson can also play in the same role – and it means he might end up pushed down the pecking order and eventually out of the door at the club.
