£7.5k-a-week West Brom man may be big loser of £4.75m transfer agreement | OneFootball

West Brom are set to sign Aune Heggebo in a £4.75m deal, which could spell an end to Devante Cole's time at the club.

West Brom are preparing for a new era under Ryan Mason, with the former Spurs boss tasked with guiding the club back to the Premier League.

As is always the case with a new head coach in place, there is a sense of optimism and intrigue around Albion right now, and players will be determined to impress over pre-season to show that they deserve a place in the XI for the opener against Blackburn on August 9.

Another reason why Mason’s arrival is exciting is because it means a fresh start for everyone currently at the club.

For whatever reason, sometimes your face doesn’t fit under a certain manager in football, but things can change dramatically when there is a change at the top.

Devante Cole faces uphill battle to get West Brom spot as Aune Heggebo transfer agreed

One man who would’ve hoped to benefit from the new management is Devante Cole.

Albion brought the striker to The Hawthorns last year after a productive spell at Barnsley, which included finding the net 18 times in the 2023/24 season.

To get him on a free transfer looked like a low-risk, smart move that could pay off in style, with the frontman estimated to be earning a weekly wage of £7,500 by Capology.

But Cole made just 14 goalless appearances in the previous campaign, all of which were from the bench.

Under both Carlos Corberan and Tony Mowbray, Cole found opportunities hard to come by, and it appears unlikely that will change with Mason, as news emerged over the weekend that Albion had agreed a £4.75m deal for Brann striker Aune Heggebo.

That is a significant outlay for the Baggies, and you would imagine that Mason has played a key role in his arrival, so the Norwegian is going to be given a chance to be the main man.

In fairness, he arrives with a decent track record, having scored seven times in 13 games in the Norwegian top-flight this season, and his physicality could make him a real threat at this level.

So, it looks like a good bit of business for West Brom, and, at 23, Heggebo could be the main number nine at the club for the years to come.

Devante Cole needs to push for West Brom exit at key period in his career

Naturally, Heggebo’s arrival will have a knock-on effect, and it’s difficult to see how Cole gets near the team moving forward under Mason.

Firstly, whilst his coaching experience is brief, Mason has gone with one striker in the past, and with Josh Maja, Daryl Dike and Karlan Grant already at the club, he will be spoilt for choice when Heggebo arrives.

Dike’s fitness issues mean the Baggies are unlikely to rely on him, but even without the American international, Albion have enough depth, and those three players are all proven at Championship level, whereas Cole isn’t.

Therefore, it’s hard to envisage anything other than another season sitting on the bench, or even in the stands for Cole, and that should force him to look elsewhere.

His performances for Barnsley have shown that he does have quality, and the 30-year-old needs to be showing that on a regular basis when you consider he may only have a few years left at his peak level.

At his best, he is a striker that has decent physicality, clever movement, and he has shown he can finish well when he gets chances. So, there will be a market for him if he wants to move on.

With one year left on his contract at The Hawthorns, Cole’s time at West Brom will be over soon enough, but Heggebo’s arrival should convince him that he needs to push for a fresh start this summer as he looks to get his career back on track.