West Brom: £900k Wigan Athletic transfer raid has been a real bargain: View | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion are on the cusp of earning themselves a Championship play-off place this season, and much of that success has been down to a rock-solid defence throughout the course of the campaign.

Only top two Leeds United and Leicester City have conceded less goals than the Baggies this season, with Carlos Corberan’s well-drilled side managing to keep the opposition at bay with relative ease week after week.

With 44 goals conceded, plenty of plaudits have to go to the Albion backline with Alex Palmer excelling in goal, as well as the outstanding performances of Cedric Kipre at the heart of defence.

After moving to the Hawthorns for a six-figure fee back in 2020, the Ivory Coast U23 international has gone from strength to strength in his defensive role, and has been an absolute brick wall at times for his side this season.

Cedric Kipre excels amid West Bromwich Albion Championship playoff push

Kipre joined the Black County side for a reported £900,000 back in 2020, and that signing has looked better value for money with each passing season the centre back has been at the club.

After keeping Wigan Athletic in the league the season before, the Paris-born star took some time to get going in a white and blue shirt, with his first campaign seeing him loaned out to Belgian side Charleroi in the hope of getting minutes in the bank.

2021/22 saw him earn himself a return to first team action for Albion, before spending the whole of last year on loan at fellow Championship side Cardiff City, with his future at the Hawthorns looking in doubt after barely featuring for the club.

But Corberan has stuck by his defender this season, and both player, club and manager have reaped the rewards with a series of standout performances across the year seeing him become something of a mainstay at the heart of the defence.

The 27-year-old’s solid performances and no-nonsense approach at the back is exactly the sort of player that the current boss loves, and it has proven to be a match made in heaven now that the defender has matured his game appropriately.

With 17 clean sheets in 23/24, West Brom have demonstrated their defensive ability time and time again en route to securing a playoff place, and need four points from their last two matches to make sure they are in the end-of-season showdown.

Within that defensive structure, Kipre has been a fundamental piece of the puzzle, with no Albion player performing more tackles in the defensive third this season, while his 65 blocks are also a club-leading statistic.

Playing alongside Kyle Bartley or Semi Ajayi, the Baggies backline have often been insurmountable, with their prowess in the air backed up by a sensational ability to read the game, and sniff out any danger before it becomes a threat.

Cedric Kipre contract information, West Bromwich Albion takeover

The worrying news for Albion fans is the fact that Kipre’s deal at the Hawthorns is set to run out in a matter of months, with his four-year deal signed in 2020 expiring this June.

Corberan [pictured] has already acknowledged the fact that there is a need to deal with the impending contract situation at the club, having addressed the fact back in February.

He said: “It is something I know the club is having conversations with them, to see if the club’s targets – with the players we want, want to keep working with us so that in both parts we have the desire to keep working together,”

“Important too is the financial expectation of the players is the same as the financial possibilities of the club. Those are the two things that need to be managed.

“But I know the club is having conversation with the players, we know many finish the contracts and I think it’s something in the next weeks or months will happen.”

The financial side Corberan mentions will have been bolstered by the takeover of the club by Bilkul Football WBA, with Chairman Shilen Patel purchasing 87.8% shareholding of the club.

That change of hierarchy could give the Baggies the additional financial boost to keep hold of the defender further than the current season, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that plenty of clubs have been keeping tabs on Kipre.

Whichever way you look at it, to pick up a player of Kipre’s quality for less than a million pounds these days is business well done. Although it took him a while to show his quality at the Hawthorns, he is now one of the most relied on members of the side and deserves all the accolades after a superb season in the second tier.