West Brom must have contingency plan if Thomas-Asante news materialises: View | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion will be hopeful they can do some transfer business in the January transfer window.

The Baggies had a long summer, as their ongoing financial issues with their owner and the fact he is looking to sell the club meant transfer business was hard to do for Carlos Corberan.

The Midlands side only made three new additions over the summer, with one of them being a free transfer and the other being two loan deals.

While the club did see some players leave, so with them looking to keep up with the play-off spots, Corberan will be keen to add more options to his thin squad.

But the club could already be about to suffer a blow in January, as striker Brandon Thomas-Asante may be set to depart, but not because of a transfer.

Thomas-Asante has really kicked his career on since joining West Brom in the summer of 2022.

The 24-year-old has scored 16 goals in 56 appearances for the club in all competitions, with six of them coming in this Championship season.

The centre-forward has been an important player for the club this season, as they have put themselves in a good position to compete for a top-six spot.

His form hasn’t gone unnoticed, with it being revealed earlier this week, that the West Brom man has been included in Ghana’s 55-man provisional squad for the African Cup of Nations.

The official squad call-ups are set to be confirmed by January 3rd, with the tournament starting on January 13th and running until February 11th, with the group stages ending on January 24th.

Thomas-Asante has been West Brom’s only fit striker for the majority of this season, leading the line as West Brom try to improve on last season’s standings.

The forward has an expected goal rate of 6.47, while his scoring frequency is 254 minutes. He is averaging 2.0 shots per game, with 1.0 being on target, and that has seen him score some goals, with him averaging 0.3 per game and a goal conversion rate of 15%, as per SofaScore.com.

These stats show that the forward will be missed by West Brom, especially as summer signing Josh Maja has spent most of the first half of the campaign on the sidelines, while Daryl Dike has also been ruled out with injury.

The positive news for the Baggies is that Dike is expected to return for West Brom soon, but even with that news, the club needs to act given that Thomas-Asante could be missing for a month.

West Brom have done well with goals this season, as they have scored 30 plus, putting themselves high in the table. But this has been done as the goals have been shared, so if West Brom can add a proven striker to their ranks, it could seriously improve their chances of a top-six finish.

The concern will be if funds are not available for Corberan to make changes to his team, but if that means he brings in a loan forward, then that is something they do need to do, as they can’t rely on Dike right away.

The West Brom will want to be patient with Dike, so they need to have another option, as if they don't, West Brom’s season could unravel in the time that Thomas-Asante is away with Ghana.