Former West Brom midfielder Nigel Quashie believes that the club will need significant reinforcements in the summer transfer window if Slaven Bilic can lead them to Premier League promotion.
Speaking to Football League World, the ex-Scotland international made the point that the gap in quality between the Premier League and the Championship is often one that promoted teams tend to underestimate and that West Brom’s current squad doesn’t suit either category on a man-to-man basis.
The Baggies bolster one of the best squads in the Championship this season with Bilic using his power in the game to lure some big-name players to the Hawthorns, such as Matheus Pereira in the summer transfer window and Callum Robinson in January, yet for Quashie, he believes that West Brom will need more if they are promoted to the Premier League.
How many players do West Brom need if they are promoted?3-50-26+ |
The former West Brom midfielder said: “I just think that there is a huge gap between the Premier League and the Championship and you know, you have got some players that are Championship quality but I call them the ‘in-between player’ – which means will they be good enough for the Premier League or are they too good for the Championship?”, with Quashie later adding: “But I still think that if you look at it at a realistic level, with the Premier League, I think the club would have to bring in at least eight players I would’ve thought, six to eight players.”
The leap from the Premier League to the Championship can be an intimidating one as seen by some clubs who have immediately gone down a year after winning promotion to the English top-flight, but West Brom have proved this season to be intelligent when it comes to dealing in the transfer market.
Bilic has a set-plan of how he wants his team to play and what players he needs to pull off his system, and although the Croatian might need to bring in several new faces to boost the quality in the side, West Brom might be able to do what the likes of Sheffield United and Wolves have managed in previous seasons and cement their Premier League status well before the end of next season.
