How Ipswich Town found value in a player West Brom may regret letting go | OneFootball

The Baggies could well be regretting sanctioning an exit of Darnell Furlong to Ipswich Town last summer given how the campaign has panned out.

Many West Brom supporters could not have envisaged the 2025-26 season going the way it has so far.

While the Baggies were certainly not promotion candidates by any stretch, given they were amidst a backdrop of challenging financial difficulty, it was expected that the club would have a consolidating season and challenge for promotion the following campaign when the ownership group Bilkul were able to be more flexible with their spending.

But right now, Albion are in deep relegation trouble, scrapping for every point they can get their hands on as they look to avoid plunging a once established Premier League outfit into the depths of the third-tier.

There could well be some optimism for the West Brom faithful to cling onto, though, after a battling goalless draw with Stoke City lifted the Black Country outfit out of the bottom three at the expense of Blackburn Rovers, with boss Eric Ramsay reverting to a four at the back system that seemed to naturally suit the players at his disposal.

Albion will have to find a telling edge in the final third though, with the goals drying up at a time when they need to be free-flowing to get out of the mess they currently find themselves in.

Rewinding to last summer, the Baggies were overhauling a squad that had become quite stagnant in recent seasons.

After sanctioning 12 departures, Albion brought in nine new faces, with a particular emphasis on revamping the backline, with the likes of Nat Phillips, Chris Mepham, George Campbell and Alfie Gilchrist all linking up in B71.

Due to those arrivals, defenders from the season gone had been moved on, with right-back Darnell Furlong completing a reported £4m exit to second-tier rivals Ipswich Town towards the end of the summer transfer window.

While the Baggies thought they were getting the better end of the deal as Furlong entered his thirties, it’s been the complete opposite, with the former QPR defender being a regular in a promotion-contending team, while Albion have had their issues in the full-back department which has contributed to their struggles at the bottom end of the table.

Darnell Furlong’s immediate impact for Ipswich Town and West Brom’s struggles at right-back

After starting West Brom’s opening three games of the season, Furlong made the surprise move to Ipswich, marking his full debut against Sheffield United with an assist in a 5-0 thumping.

And ever since then, Furlong has firmly remained first-choice at full-back, starting all but two other games since the Tractor Boys’ meeting with the Blades.

Furlong has done extremely well to fend off the competition in his position too, with the likes of Ben Johnson and Ashley Young constant threats if his performances were to slip up.

But they haven’t so far, with Furlong adding an injection of attacking threat on the right flank through his directness and long throwing ability, while he is so assured in his defensive duties and reads the game so well, leading to him earning an impressive average rating of 7.13/10 for his displays so far this term, as per FotMob.

Those qualities have been a big part of why he has been such a regular in this division over the years, and he could well be on his way to recording a promotion onto his CV as Ipswich target an immediate return to the big time.

Unfortunately for West Brom, they’ve really struggled to deal with the loss of Furlong as their recruitment has been nowhere near up to scratch to replace the calibre of players they let go of.

It’s been a problem in multiple areas, but particularly on the right side when Albion also lost Tom Fellows, who had notched the joint-most assists in the previous campaign.

At right-back, Albion have never quite nailed down a starter. Under Ryan Mason, summer recruit George Campbell occupied that role for the majority of his tenure, but with the American naturally a central defender, he could never add the attacking intent that Furlong could produce.

Alfie Gilchirst has also played some part under Mason and now Eric Ramsay, but he is much more comfortable with his defensive work, rarely crossing the halfway line to support the attacks and an extra source of creativity.

It has led to the club recruiting Danny Imray from Crystal Palace on loan for the remainder of the season, but with Ramsay now reverting to a four at the back system, there is some doubt over his game-time, given he is naturally viewed as more of a wing-back.

West Brom will hold regret over Darnell Furlong sale

There’s no doubt that West Brom will be kicking themselves for letting Darnell Furlong go, particularly as he was such a solid performer most weeks in the blue and white stripes.

Furlong has continued his impressive performances at Portman Road with no bother at all, stepping up to the challenge of playing for a Championship heavyweight and not looking out of place, which is no surprise given he played week in, week out at The Hawthorns.

While he rarely caught the eye, Furlong’s consistency could never be questioned. More than competent in both sides of his game, he gave West Brom a fantastic balance on the right-hand side, and he was a big reason why his partnership with Tom Fellows flourished last season and had Albion in play-off contention.

Now both of them have departed, Albion’s right-hand side has never looked as weak as it does right now, with such a lack of quality in the building contributing to their fall down the Championship standings.

With the Baggies, their recruitment failed to replace the loss of such a consummate professional, with the chopping and changing of players in that role creating a disorganised and chaotic backline that has crumbled under pressure far too many times this term.

The Albion hierarchy will have to look back at this as a lesson learned, as they have been caught out for cutting corners and believing they could get away with selling such an immense leader, while Ipswich will be so grateful to have landed an established Championship performer through Albion's sheer lack of footballing knowledge.