West Bromwich Albion supporters, like every fan of EFL and Premier League clubs, have got very little to keep them going on the weekends when they’d usually be watching their teams play at the moment. However, the Baggies could use this time wisely to give the fans a real boost.
The only focus for the West Midlands side previously was taking one game at a time and trying to ensure that come the end of the season they remain in the top two spots in the Championship to win promotion and make their long-awaited return to the Premier League after a two-season absence.
Now, though, the time that would be spent playing football is needed to be filled by other things, and this could give the Baggies the opportunity to explore getting a new contract in place with young Kyle Edwards, the club’s 22-year-old academy man who’s set to become a free agent in the summer.
Edwards’ current deal is up this summer (Transfermarkt), yet he’s played a major part for the Baggies this season, featuring 24 times in the Championship, scoring twice and assisting once (Transfermarkt), and the fans will agree when we say we don’t want to be waving goodbye to him at the end of this season, whenever that may be.
Despite only playing a bit-part role for the Baggies so far during the current campaign, Slaven Bilic has still been able to rely upon him when he’s needed to, and the underlying numbers that Edwards has put up have been impressive.
Should Kyle Edwards get a longer deal when this crisis is over?
Yes
No
According to WhoScored, Edwards has averaged 1.5 dribbles, 1 shot, 0.3 key passes and 0.4 tackles per game, and if he develops into the player the fans know he can be then those numbers, as well as his end product, will only be set to increase, so getting him tied down to a new deal is crucial.