Claim dropped on potential Josh Maja exit at West Brom amid PSR talk | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion could face a January dilemma over what to do with striker Josh Maja, but FLW's Baggies fan pundit wants them to keep him.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion face a dilemma over whether to try to cash in on one of their most talented strikers in the January transfer window or keep him and risk losing him for free next summer.

In fifth place in the Championship and with five wins from their first ten games of the League season, Ryan Mason has enjoyed a solid start to his managerial career with West Bromwich Albion.

But one area in which his team could do with a little fine-tuning is in front of goal. West Brom have only scored 11 goals in their first ten League games of the season, and in the entire top half of the Championship table, only 9th-placed Charlton Athletic have scored fewer.

All of this turns attention to the contractual position of one of their most talented strikers. Josh Maja will be out of contract at the end of this season, and from January he'll even be able to agree a pre-contract to move abroad for nothing at the end of 2025-26.

And this leaves the club with something of a dilemma on their hands. They could keep him until the end of the season, with the risk that they lose him for nothing then, or they could cash in and get what they can for him during January.

"Albion must keep..." - West Brom warned they can't afford to lose Josh Maja

With all of this in mind, Football League World have spoken to our resident Baggies fan pundit Callum Burgess to get his assessment of Maja and Albion's situation, and Callum is in no doubt whatsoever about what the club should do with regard to Maja: "I've always said that as long as there's a 1% chance of getting in the play-offs, Albion must keep Josh Maja for the entire season, even if it does mean letting him leave on a free in the summer."

Callum feels that any transfer fee received by the club would be more than counterbalanced by the fact that they would find replacing him to be extremely difficult: "I think that the positives of keeping him at the club, with what he brings to the team, much outweigh any idea of selling him mid-season, even if it's just to get any sort of fee for him, because in January you're not going to get a striker as good as him whatsoever."

He also believes that he saw enough of the player throughout the first half of last season to convince him of this: "We saw last season, when he had 12 goals by January, his finishing ability and his link-up play. He's a really top quality striker in the Championship."

And while Callum is aware of the potential financial implications of Maja leaving the club for free next summer, he sees the possibility of promotion to the Premier League at the end of this season to be too big an opportunity for Albion to not take that chance: "Even if it'll be a slight boost on PSR, I couldn't really care less, to be honest. I'd rather see Maja stay at the club for the entire season and give Albion the best chance possible of getting into the play-offs."

Josh Maja's contract situation presents West Bromwich Albion with a dilemma

The situation regarding Josh Maja's contract is a conundrum for the West Bromwich Albion manager Ryan Mason. Goals have been a bit of an issue, with eleven scored in ten games, and Maja is a player with the quality to be able to unlock defences. His return in front of goal this season hasn't been great. He's only managed one in the League so far this season.

But then again, he hasn't had much opportunity to. Of his eight appearances for Albion so far this season, six have come from the bench, with only two starts. Maja missed the second half of 2024-25 with a calf injury, so his appearances throughout the whole of 2025 have been extremely limited.

If he can't tie down a first-team place by the new year, the temptation to cash in on him and sell him for whatever they can get will be extremely great. He can start negotiating with other clubs in the new year, and may even be able to sign a pre-contract agreement that would guarantee him leaving The Hawthorns for no transfer fee.

But what Callum identifies in his comments is completely correct. The Premier League has to be West Bromwich Albion's target for the end of this season, whether that's through an automatic promotion place or a play-off position. With some of the pre-season promotion favourites having so far fallen short of expectations, there are opportunities for other clubs to step into the breach and missing out at the end of this season may well end up looking like a wasted opportunity for several clubs.

Should West Bromwich Albion fail to get promotion come the end of this season and lose Josh Maja for nothing, there may well be questions that the club has to answer over how they've managed the last year of the contract of such a talented player.