Chris Brunt has opened up about his failed Deadline Day move to Stoke City for the first time since the events from two weeks ago unfolded.
Speaking to The Express and Star, the former Northern Ireland international revealed that he is keen to play regular first-team football again, with stats from WhoScored showing that Brunt has only managed eight appearances in all competitions.
The Stoke Sentinel reported on Deadline Day that Brunt was close to joining Martin O’Neill’s side in the final hours of the January window, but the Championship club didn’t have enough time to complete a deal for the 35-year-old.
Should West Brom allow Chris Brunt to leave in the summer?
Yes
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The West Brom captain said about his failed move to Stoke: “I am a professional footballer and I want to be playing. It’s pretty obvious that I haven’t been involved as much as I would want to be,” with Brunt later adding: “But I’m at that stage in my career where I want to be playing football. It was an opportunity for me to go and play a few games. And probably, looking at the squad we have got and the way the manager has done things this season, I felt that I wouldn’t get that opportunity here.”
It would have been ideal for Brunt to depart West Brom this January after nearly 12 years with the club in which the winger has cemented himself as a Baggies legend, and his comments on not being able to secure a move to Stoke seemingly hint that this will be the attacker’s last season for the Albion.
There is a debate to be made that Brunt has been somewhat disrespected by Slaven Bilic during their time together at West Brom, and although it will be difficult for some fans to see one of their club greats leave for good, the 35-year-old has more than shown his loyalty to the Baggies in his time spent at the Hawthorns.
He’s a midfielder.
Don’t see why anyone would think Brunt has been ” disrespected ” by Bilic. Brunt is no longer good enough to get in the first team, it’s sad but true.