West Brom suffer blow in transfer pursuit of 34-cap international | OneFootball

Joseph Rosales had become the subject of a potential reunion with Eric Ramsay in B71

West Bromwich Albion have reportedly suffered a blow in their aims of signing 25-year-old Honduran international defender, Joseph Rosales, who has previously worked with newly-appointed Baggies boss, Eric Ramsay.

That is according to an update from Alvaro De La Rocha via X, which surfaced on Wednesday afternoon, clarifying that Rosales' current employers, Austin FC of Major League Soccer, have no plans to immediately part ways with the full-back, who only agreed to signing a long-term contract at the Q2 stadium last month after joining from Ramsay's former club, Minnesota United.

With just a matter of days to go until the winter transfer window slams shut at 7PM on February 2nd, Albion's newest head coach is still on the lookout for further reinforcements to the squad which he inherited after taking over from Ryan Mason earlier in the month.

It hasn't exactly been the start to life at The Hawthorns which the 34-year-old would have envisaged after he penned a two-and-a-half year contract on January 11th, replacing Ryan Mason.

West Brom were in the midst of a poor run of form at the time of Ramsay's appointment, and they are still yet to pick up a victory under the former Manchester United and Chelsea coach, despite him overseeing three Championship matches thus far.

Whilst it had been an extremely quick turnaround due to the fixture schedule, meaning that Ramsay was limited in the amount of training sessions he could oversee with his new chargers, the Albion faithful saw their side suffer back-to-back home defeats against Middlesbrough and Norwich City - with the latter being the club's worst-ever home defeat outside the top division through a 5-0 scoreline - before earning a dramatic draw against Derby County at Pride Park last Friday.

At present, the Baggies are just two places and three points above the relegation zone in the second tier, making a first relegation to League One level for the first time in 33 years a distinct possibility.

Within those three games, it has also become clear that Ramsay is immediately looking to stamp his authority on the playing squad, adopting a three-back system, although such developments have already split opinion.

Baggies fans have seen their new boss address their goalkeeping woes with the short-term signing of Max O'Leary from Bristol City. However, the West Midlands side have suffered a major setback in their hopes of completing a second transfer move of the window.

This isn't the first time that Rosales has become the subject of links over a potential maiden career switch to the English game in a January transfer window.

Just 12 months ago, it appeared as though all was in place for the 34-time Honduras international left-back to sign for Preston North End from Minnesota United, although a deal would fail to materialise between the MLS side and the Lilywhites.

It has been well-documented that Ramsay enjoyed strong success as head coach at Allianz Field, with the 25-year-old Rosales a key part of his side that broke a plethora of club records with a fourth-place finish.

Rosales had been with Minnesota on either a loan or permanent basis from the summer of 2021 after an agreement was struck with CA Independiente.

In July 2024, the defender signed a fresh contract under Ramsay, although the 2025 campaign would prove to be his last. Rosales signed for Austin FC in the final weeks of the Albion boss' stateside spell, penning a deal until the summer of 2029 after a $1.5m transfer agreement was struck.

Yet, despite not making a competitive appearance for Austin, as the MLS campaign gets underway next month, it was initially claimed on Wednesday that Ramsay had 'explicitly requested' a reunion with Rosales at The Hawthorns.

However, just hours later, the aforementioned De La Rocha offered a fresh update that came as a blow to the Baggies' pursuit.

The reporter claims that no contact has been made by the Championship side to Rosales and his representatives over a potential switch to the Black Country, and that Austin FC have no plans to immediately sell their recent signing in the coming days.

With a total of nine goals conceded in three games, it isn't the greatest of surprises that Ramsay is looking to address his defensive options first and foremost.

Given the system which he is implementing in B71, it would be fair to assume that Rosales would feature in a wing-back role, which, in the past three games, has been played by Samuel Iling-Junior, who had previously been utilised as a right-winger under Mason.

Callum Styles has also been utilised in a similar role across the season, but the former Barnsley man has since slotted back into a central midfield role under Ramsay.

However, Albion must now turn their attention to other options in what remains of the window before they risk leaving themselves short of depth in a key area of the pitch.