"Would make little sense" - West Brom told to keep senior player ahead of summer transfer window | OneFootball

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 Bromwich Albion are going into the final day of the season on Saturday afternoon needing effectively just a draw to secure their place in the Championship play-offs.

Having previously looked to be set in stone that the Baggies would be in the top six, a run of one win in their last seven games has left the Baggies in a position where have had to wait until the final day to confirm a top six finish, where they will face Preston North End at The Hawthorns.

The team looking to spoil the party is Hull City, with Liam Rosenior’s side two points off of West Brom, so they themselves need to win and hope Carlos Corberan’s side lose, due to West Brom’s superior goal difference - a point will be enough though for Albion - presuming that the Tigers do not beat Plymouth Argyle by 11 goals.

Corberan has done an exceptional job this season, having to work with signing only free transfers and loans after having to deal with the ownership troubles, which were resolved in February when American businessman Shilen Patel bought a majority stake in the club from Guochuan Lai.

West Brom's head coach is likely to be backed in the summer transfer window no matter what division they are in - with that comes a lot of incomings but also perhaps departures, and a few players could leave.

Semi Ajayi could leave West Brom this summer

One player whose future could be in limbo is Semi Ajayi, whose contract is set to expire at the end of next season, and he has only been a bit part player under Corberan for the majority of the current campaign.

Speaking exclusively to FLW, West Brom fan pundit Matt Smith has said that the club have to be cautious when deciding whether to cash in or keep the Nigeria international this summer, owing to some potential expiring contracts that are looming.

Matt told FLW: “I think if we are in the Championship then it would make little sense to cash in on Semi Ajayi because he is a proven defender in the league.

"And if we don’t get promoted, I think (Cedric) Kipre will be off, and therefore he leaves a big gap in defence that Semi has proved that he can sometimes fill.

“I guess he is out of contract in 2025, but I can’t see us getting more than a couple of million I suppose. He is 30 now, but it probably makes little sense to just cash in on him, to be honest. He would probably be more useful next season if we are still in the Championship and we are missing at least one defender who is currently at the club, and I imagine Erik Pieters will be off.

“It does depend on our situation as a club and what the picture is looking for like for the likes of (Nathaniel) Chalobah in midfield, what the picture is looking like for the defence, obviously (Caleb) Taylor at Bolton might come back and will hopefully make more of impact than he did this year.

"So, you are probably looking at losing Cedric Kipre and Erik Pieters, and that is just off the top of my head, Bartley may be out of contract perhaps, so I think it is unlikely or I would certainly be cautious about cashing in on Semi that’s for sure, despite his contract being up soon and being able to get a couple of million for him.

“I really would be cautious about it, that’s the main perspective I would take, be cautious.”

The potential sale of Ajayi is one where Wet Brom can rightfully be a little concerned if it went through.

Centre-back is a position within the Baggies squad where they are completely lacking in depth going into the summer.

Cedric Kipre and Erik Pieters are both out of contract in the summer, whilst Kyle Bartley’s contract expiry date is unknown, but it could be up this summer. This leaves West Brom with only two centre-back options that are definitely contracted for next season.

Those two are Ajayi and Caleb Taylor, who has struggled at West Brom this season and has spent the majority of his loan with Bolton Wanderers out injured.

Ajayi has seen his game time limited this season, being restricted to 26 appearances, with just ten of those being starts. At the age of 30, he is not getting any younger so the hierarchy may feel it is best to move him on.

But Ajayi is very experienced and proven at Championship level, and they would likely not get too much for a fee for him anyway, so it may be best to at least keep him for another year and see what the situation is like in a year’s time.