West Brom star sends 13-word message to Baggies fans after suffering huge blow | OneFootball

West Brom defender Nolan Galves has broken his silence after being ruled out of the remainder of the season through injury

West Bromwich Albion's impressive start to the 2026/27 Championship campaign has been knocked by a serious injury setback to summer signing Nolan Galves, who has now reacted following the confirmation that he will spend the rest of the season on the sidelines in a cruel twist.

The Baggies have made an encouraging introduction to the new Championship term under James Morrison, climbing to fifth position after eight matches with four wins, two draws and two losses.

West Brom are very much in the picture to battle for a play-off spot after only narrowly dodging relegation by four points last time out, and the fact that their pair of defeats have come at the hands of firm automatic promotion contenders in Middlesbrough and bitter rivals Wolves will provide encouragement in its own right to the Hawthorns faithful.

Albion will, however, need to make do without Galves for the remainder of the campaign, with the Frenchman instead poised to find himself on the treatment table for the coming months as a long recovery process awaits just months into his tenure in the Black Country.

Nolan Galves suffers season-ending injury setback at West Brom

Galves arrived at West Brom over the summer from French outfit Rodez after playing a starring role in the Ligue 2 side's run to the play-off semi-finals against Saint-Etienne, contributing seven assists in league action.

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That's exactly why the 23-year-old represented a strong replacement for Danny Imray following the conclusion of his loan deal and subsequent switch to Championship rivals Wrexham, with the Baggies paying a reported £850,000 figure to secure his services on a four-year contract.

The defender instantly established himself under Morrison and would start five of his first six second-tier appearances, notably impressing in early-season victories over Norwich City and Burnley before disaster struck during the second-half of West Brom's 1-0 win away to Derby County at the beginning of the previous month.

Having already come on as a substitute, Galves was then hauled off just 15 minutes following a challenge with Derby forward Mo Fuseini, which left the Sochaux academy product with serious knee damage.

West Brom have now confirmed the severity of Galves' setback, recently announcing that the popular right-back has completed surgery, including ACL reconstruction, and is unlikely to feature again this season as he undertakes a lengthy period of rehabilitation.

Nolan Galves sends 13-message to West Brom fans

Galves will naturally be devastated to have suffered a season-ending injury so early into his time with the club, who will wish they didn't have to be without the French starlet following such an encouraging start to proceedings.

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However, Galves himself remains indebted to West Brom fans for the support they have displayed after the extent of his setback was made clear.

Breaking his silence on the outcome via his Instagram page, Galves penned a 13-word message to supporters on Thursday afternoon thanking them for sending messages of support.

He wrote: "Thank you for all of your messages, we are preparing the comeback. Luv baggies ❤️❤️".

Galves has already missed the Baggies' last two fixtures, which returned a 1-1 draw with fellow high-flyers QPR and a slender defeat at Wolves prior to the three-week international break, and will unfortunately need to get used to watching on from the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

West Brom have strength in depth after Nolan Galves injury setback

The silver lining is that West Brom do have a certain level of strength in depth to call upon after losing Galves for the rest of the season, and his absence has seen Callum Styles fill in at right-back for the most recent outings.

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A bonafide utility player, Styles had been filling in on the left-hand side of Albion's defence but has since switched over to the other flank and that's no bad thing given his versatility, with the 31-cap Hungarian international having been among his side's strongest performers thus far while putting in an eye-catching display against Wolves.

In turn, Conor Towsend has begun to nail down a spot in Styles' vacated position following his return to the Hawthorns from Ipswich Town in July, and Baggies fans know exactly what he can produce.

West Brom are fortunate enough to have players who can swiftly replace Galves for the time being, although worry would have to remain over what may happen if either Styles or Townsend were to suffer serious injuries of their own and it will be no surprise if that forces Morrison to take action once January rolls around.