"Would have been a good thing" - West Brom reaction issued to John Swift's collapsed Derby County transfer | OneFootball

FLW's West Bromwich Albion fan pundit believes it would have been the right move if John Swift had joined Derby County on deadline day.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion midfielder John Swift came close to leaving The Hawthorns on the final day of the January transfer window.

The 29-year-old has made 27 appearances in the league for the Baggies so far this season, but he came close to joining fellow Championship side Derby County on deadline day.

According to The Telegraph, a deal that would have seen Swift sign for the Rams fell through in the final hours of the January transfer window.

Swift has been ever-present in the Albion squad in the second tier this term, and has only been an unused substitute four times, but considering he has made just one goal contribution over the course of the campaign, it is perhaps no surprise that Tony Mowbray was willing to facilitate his departure.

John Swift departure would have been a "good thing for all parties"

We asked our West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, whether he believes it would have been a good move for Swift if he had joined Derby on deadline day.

"It definitely would have been a good thing for John Swift to move on, especially with the amount of game time you would expect him to have for the rest of the season," Callum told FLW.

"We have spent £3 million on Tammer Bany, who is an attacking midfielder, so you would suspect that he will be high up in the pecking order and will be a direct competitor to Swift in that position.

"We have seen Diangana play either in the front two or in the ten role quite a lot last season, and also since he returned from injury, and performed quite well.

"After Mowbray arrived, Swift was playing in a bit of a deeper role alongside Alex Mowatt, but after the performance against Plymouth, I doubt that we will see that experiment go on for much longer.

"With his contract expiring at the end of the season, it definitely would have been best for John Swift to move on.

"We could have done with getting his wages off the books, even if it meant temporarily sharing them with Derby County as that is where he would have gone to.

"I doubt that he will be a consistent figure in the Albion team before he leaves in the summer, so him leaving now would have been a good thing for all parties."

John Swift has struggled to make an impact for West Brom this season

During his time at West Brom, Swift has often been a player that can be relied on to pop up with a goal or an assist from midfield, but this season, he has been unable to do either of those things on a consistent basis.

In fact, he is yet to register an assist for the Baggies this season, while his only goal was the fifth in a 5-0 rout of Portsmouth at The Hawthorns last month.

In comparison, he scored nine goals in the Championship last season, while he made 17 goal contributions in all competitions the season before that, so the fact that his output has diminished so drastically makes it unsurprising that he was almost moved on in January.

It seems likely that Swift will leave the club at the end of his contract in the summer, so it is hard to argue that it would have been a bad move if he had signed for Derby on deadline day in January.