West Bromwich Albion have been dealt a major blow in their bid to bring Josh Windass to The Hawthorns this summer.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Yorkshire Live, who revealed that the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder has put pen to paper on a new two-year deal at Hillsborough, putting an end to the transfer speculation surrounding the 27-year-old.
Indeed, earlier reports had claimed that a number of Premier League and Championship clubs, including Valerien Ismaeal’s West Brom, were keeping a close eye on the situation of the player ahead of a potential summer swoop following the Owls’ relegation from the second tier last season.
However, with Windass now looking set to remain at Wednesday until at least the summer of 2023, a move for the former Glasgow Rangers man would now appear to be rather unlikely for the Baggies any time soon.
Fans will be gutted
With Matheus Pereira’s departure leaving a rather significant goalscoring and creative hole in Albion’s attacking ranks, the addition of a player who could somewhat replace the Brazilian’s influence within the side would appear to be a must for Ismael before the closure of the summer transfer window.
And, considering the form Windass was in for Wednesday last season, despite the fact the Owls were battling at the wrong end of the table, the 27-year-old looked to be something of a perfect fit for the Frenchman.
Indeed, over his 41 Championship appearances for Darren Moore’s side last term, the £1.8m-rated man scored nine goals, registered six assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots and making 0.7 key passes per game.
These metrics saw the man dubbed an “explosive” player by his father Dean earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.80, ranking him as the club’s seventh-best performer in the second tier of English football.
As such, when taking into account the £10k-per-week attacking midfielder would have been available at something of a snip this summer, in addition to his obvious ability in the final third, fans of the Baggies are sure to be gutted that Windass has signed a new deal with his current side, as the 27-year-old would have appeared to make an exciting addition to the Albion squad.
In other news: West Brom in the running for “phenomenal” £5k-p/w goal-machine, he’d be a huge coup