West Brom set to offload third senior player alongside Diangana and Swift | OneFootball

Following the departure of Tony Mowbray, Nigeria international defender Semi Ajayi is also now expected to leave West Brom this summer.

Following the announcement this week that Tony Mowbray had been sacked by West Bromwich Albion in his second stint in charge of the club, it has now been reported that several first-team players will also leave The Hawthorns at the end of their contracts this summer.

As well as the expected departures of former West Ham United winger Grady Diangana and ex-Reading midfielder John Swift, Nigeria international centre-back Semi Ajayi is also expected to leave the club at the end of this season, according to Darren Witcoop.

West Brom have endured a turbulent campaign following a turbulent few years off-the-field and their failure to reach the top six and the play-off places was all but confirmed on Easter Monday with a 3-1 defeat at home to relegation-battling Derby County.

In a season whereby they have gone on long runs of form that would have to be viewed as statistical anomalies under Carlos Corberan initially and their run of ten draws in 11 matches through the autumn before his departure for Valencia on Christmas Eve and now under Mowbray, whereby they have managed just two victories in their last ten games, the Baggies are set for a frustrating mid-table finish, having managed as many victories as a side such as Portsmouth, who gained promotion last season and are yet to absolutely mathematically confirm Championship status for next season.

Ajayi set for West Brom exit

Semi Ajayi is one of a number of players that is expected to depart the club, having been with the Midlanders since he moved from Rotherham United in the summer of 2019, per Witcoop.

After a slow-ish start to his professional career in the EFL, Ajayi was key for Rotherham for a couple of years before moving to West Brom for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.5 million six years ago.

In the first of those six seasons, he established himself as a key man for the Baggies as they gained promotion back to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season before then making 33 appearances in the top-flight.

Since coming back down to the Championship, Ajayi has remained a key man for West Brom, enduring the occasional spell on the sidelines when injured or working himself back to full fitness.

However, there has been a steady decline in Ajayi's involvement at West Brom over the years - in some part owing to injuries - which now leads us to the point where he is heading for a summer exit as the Baggies face up to another season in the EFL.

Ajayi came through the academy at Charlton Athletic before moving to Arsenal and has earned 39 caps for the Nigeria national team during a strong career that now looks set to begin a new chapter.

The summer rebuild at West Brom

Ajayi isn’t the only one expected to depart this summer, with Mowbray confirming the departure of Diangana at the end of his deal and also hinting at Swift’s exit.

As well as those three players leaving at the end of their contracts, West Brom also have a few players on loan deals until the end of this season, such as Mason Holgate, Adam Armstrong and Will Lankshear from Everton, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

With a new manager required ahead of what would be the second summer transfer window since the takeover of the club by Bilkul Football WBA led by Kiran C Patel and his son and chairman of the club, Shilen Patel, it is set to be quite a big summer for the club.

The loss of Carlos Corberan, who is now thriving with Valencia in La Liga, was a blow that was clearly not very well planned for or managed with the departure of Mowbray this week and there may now have to be a shift both on and off the pitch for Albion to mount another promotion or play-off challenge next season.