West Bromwich Albion had a poor season last year by their standards, as they strive for a return to the Premier League.
To improve upon these campaigns however, it helps to keep hold of the better players in the squad and build upon the weaker ones.
Unfortunately for Steve Bruce, the exact opposite happened, and his side are suffering for it now.
Should West Brom have signed Matt Clarke?
The Baggies currently sit 20th, having won one of their opening ten Championship fixtures. Perhaps this could have been prevented had they managed to keep hold of Matt Clarke, the man who the supporters overwhelmingly voted as their Player of the Season for the 2021/22 season.
What makes it all the more frustrating is that Bruce’s recent comments note that they did attempt to poach him from Brighton and Hove Albion, but only could get him on loan.
“I don’t mind telling you, we were looking for Clarke. We had to buy him if that was the case, and we had to wait – if nobody did buy him, then we were in pole position to sign him on loan. Middlesbrough then bought him, so Erik came into the equation.”
As he mentions, the Boro swooped in and stole their star man from last season for just £2.5m.
The small price of this deal is indicative of just how much financial trouble West Brom find themselves in, as they could not muster enough to sign him even for that much.
They only spent £1.21m the entire summer.
Lai Guochuan will be kicking himself that he could not get together the funds for Clarke, who featured 33 times and earned an average SofaScore rating of 6.93 last season at the Hawthorns.
Graham Potter too had been vocal in his admiration for the defender, claiming: “You could see his quality, his range of pass, and when he went into midfield you could see what he was about”
Perhaps if they still had him, plus the few shrewd deals they managed over the summer, Bruce’s side would not be in the trouble they currently find themselves.
Holding on to their better players is key for progression, whilst losing them has the effect they are currently suffering from.
