West Brom have lost two of their last three matches, falling to 13th on the table at the midway point of the season.
That is the same position where the Baggies finished last season, and is where many expect the club to hover around this year.
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With the January transfer window set to open on January 2, manager Tony Pulis knows he must make signings if he wants to push for a top-half finish. However, he also understands West Brom’s position financially, much further down the table than some of the Premier League giants.
Pulis has been told he must generate revenue from selling players before he can buy, as he expects deals to be made later in the window.If we move people out, I’m hoping we get a little bit of money to reinvest, because we need to. But we have to move people out before we can move people in.
The chairman (Jeremy Peace) showed in the last window that, unless a deal is right, he won’t do it.
We’re not in a position where we can spend millions blowing everyone out of the water, where we can go out and offer people £100,000 a week.
We’re sat on the top table but we feed off the crumbs. You have to understand that. You have to wait for those crumbs to drop off the table and that hopefully you’re in the right place at the right time to pick them up. And that doesn’t happen at the start of a meal. That usually happens at the end of the meal.
The move everyone is waiting to happen is the sale of Saido Berahino, as the troubled striker has been on his way out for some time now. Pulis talked about the chairman’s unwillingness to make a deal unless it is right, referencing the failed sale of Berahino to Tottenham this summer.
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The Baggies wanted more than $30 million for Berahino, rejecting multiple offers from Tottenham after the striker scored 14 Premier League goals last season. However, the 22-year-old has had a falling out with both the club and the manager, as he has struggled to find playing time.
Berahino will still attract interest from across the league, but it will be interesting to see if his value has dropped with his limited minutes this season. West Brom will be keen to sell him and use that money to sign a few role players, but chairman Jeremy Peace is a stingy businessman.