"Surprised" claim made on West Brom player who did not leave the Hawthorns in January | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has identified one player he's surprised didn't leave the club in the January window

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 Brom were active in the January transfer market right up until Monday night’s deadline.

Tony Mowbray is back in charge at the Hawthorns, and he made use of the opportunity to make some changes to the Baggies’ first team squad.

Tammer Bany, Isaac Price, Adam Armstrong and Will Lankshear all arrived at the Hawthorns to boost the team’s chances of fighting for a play-off place.

West Brom were also active with their departures, with Alex Palmer departing on a permanent basis, moving to Ipswich Town, while Caleb Taylor joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan.

Devante Cole transfer surprise raised

When asked which player in the squad he was surprised didn’t depart in January, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess identified Devante Cole.

He highlighted the many attacking options at Mowbray’s disposal, and suggested the forward will struggle even further for game time in the second half of the campaign now.

“I am a bit surprised that no offers came in for Devante Cole,” Burgess told Football League World.

“Because, after being unfancied by Corberan, then the caretaker team after they were looking after the team after Carlos’ departure, and now Tony Mowbray.

“That’s three successive coaching staff who have not appeared to take a keen interest in Devante Cole.

“Especially now we’ve got Will Lankshear joining on loan, Bany is an option up front and the likes of Karlan Grant, Jed Wallace, they’ve been fancied ahead of him.

“They’ve got Daryl Dike coming back from injury, Josh Maja will eventually be back, Adam Armstrong as well.

“They’ve so many options ahead of him, just for him to potentially not even make the bench from now on.

“So, no doubt that he’ll be frustrated with his role and even in the summer when Albion signed him I was a bit surprised because he’s never really been at the level of the Championship, let alone one aiming to be competing with the top six.

“I was wondering if a League One loan opportunity would’ve come up at the last minute for him to be moved on, but that’s one that I can definitely see happening in the summer at the very least now.”

Cole has made 14 appearances in the Championship so far this season, all of which have come as a substitute.

Cole will struggle for minutes at West Brom

Cole’s signing in the summer looked like it had the potential to do well given how he had performed in League One for Barnsley.

But it’s been clear for some time now that it’s simply not working out for the 29-year-old, and it is surprising a loan move wasn’t looked at in January.

Given the depth of West Brom’s attacking options, it’s difficult to see Cole playing too frequently between now and the end of the season.