West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Bruce has spoken in recent weeks about the potential transfer overhaul he’s looking to complete at the Hawthorns this summer.
One potential move that has been reported could see current Baggies defender Cedric Kipre leave the club this summer.
Since arriving at the club back in September 2020 from Wigan Athletic, the centre-back has made just 19 appearances for the Baggies across all competitions.
This latest season saw the 25-year-old appear just 14 times for his side in the Championship, the latest of which coming all the way back in January.
This shows just how much Bruce doesn’t fancy him and why it’s not a surprise to hear that the Baggies boss would be willing to see the Frenchman leave this summer.
Previously slammed for his “shocking” tackle on Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack that kept him sidelined for six months back in December 2017, Kipre may now be on the lookout for a new club to join.
Has Cedric Kipre been a flop for West Brom?
In terms of who the Midlands side could look to bring in as a suitable replacement for the Frenchman, one figure the Baggies have been linked with that could fit the bill for Bruce is Blackburn Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan.
With a total of 219 appearances in the Championship under his belt, the 28-year-old certainly has more experience at this level than Kipre, who has just 88 games in the second division to his name.
This season saw the Irishman end Blackburn’s campaign with the second-highest number of interceptions (58) and third-highest number of tackles (43) to his name in the Lancashire club’s squad.
His overall performances earned him a season rating of 7.1/10 from WhoScored, making him Blackburn’s highest-rated player.
To put that into perspective, this rating would also put him as West Brom’s highest-rated player for the recent campaign.
To further highlight how impressive the £14k-per-week centre-back is, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray had this to say about him back in December.
He said: “He’s right at the top of his game, you can tell the way he’s dominating, he’s towering over players inches taller than him, his passing he looks so assured, long passing, short passing.”
Moving forward, with Lenihan’s contract at Ewood Park set to expire at the end of June, potentially cashing in on Kipre and securing the Blackburn star on a free transfer could be an excellent bit of business from Bruce and the Baggies.
In other news: Cost £0, sold for £15m: WBA sealed a big transfer masterclass with “quiet” 28 y/o flop
