Pundit issues verdict on West Brom links with 31-year-old Premier League striker | OneFootball

Former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has claimed that he would like to see the Baggies re-sign Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle this summer.

Gayle scored just once in 18 league games for Newcastle last season, and recent reports had claimed that Chris Wilder would attempt to sign the 31-year-old if he was given the vacant managerial role at West Brom.

However, subsequent reports have suggested that Wilder is no longer a candidate to take over in the dugout at The Hawthorns.

But despite that, it seems Palmer would still like to see Gayle back in Baggies during the 2021/22 campaign.

Speaking about the possibility of a return to West Brom for Gayle, the ex-England international told This is Futbol: “He’s certainly got goals in him in that league, for sure, certainly got plenty of goals in him in that league.

“If you’re going to get promoted, you’ve got to get 87, 88 points, so you’re going to need goals. Gayle will get goals in that league all day long.”

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Gayle of course previously enjoyed an excellent loan spell with West Brom during the 2018/19 season, scoring 24 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions for the Baggies as they missed out on promotion via the play-offs.

The Verdict

I do think that Palmer is right to say that Gayle would be a good signing for West Brom this summer.

They did lack a really prolific goalscorer even during the 2019/20 season when they did win promotion to the Premier League, so you imagine that is in an issue they will want to address this summer.

We have already seen that Gayle is more than capable of making that sort of impact in the Championship, and his past links with the Baggies mean you would expect him to be a popular signing at The Hawthorns.

You feel therefore, as though it could be sensible for West Brom to try and complete a deal here, although it remains to be seen just how feasible a deal would be for them in relation to Newcastle’s plan for the 31-year-old.