West Bromwich Albion fans have got so much time for the current crop of players at The Hawthorns. The likes of Matheus Pereira and Hal Robson-Kanu are doing a fantastic job at the top end of the pitch, whilst Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley are doing just as well at the other end.
However, when the summer window opens and transfers can be completed, the Baggies still have work to do, and Slaven Bilic needs to be prepared to dip into the transfer market and get some players in, especially if the Baggies do win promotion to the Premier League.
Many fans just want to see a number of the club’s current loanees to be snapped up on permanent deals, but the West Midlands side simply have to do more than just that if they want to have a strong crack at the Premier League throughout the 2020/21 campaign.
One area that we think needs to be highlighted as a position to bolster is at left-back. The Baggies have got both Kieran Gibbs and Conor Townsend to play on the left of Bilic’s back four at the moment, but there will be question marks over the pair of them in the top flight.
Gibbs is 30-years-old and has lost his place in the top flight this season to Townsend, although he does have previous experience in the Premier League to fall back on (Transfermarkt) should the Baggies go up this season and find themselves in the top flight, something Townsend doesn’t have.
Moving onto Townsend, the defender is a solid and reliable option, but at 27-years-old, he’s never played a minute of Premier League action, and as recently as the 2017/18 season he was in League One with Scunthorpe (Transfermarkt), so finding a more dependable defender for a season in the Premier League looks like a good option.