West Brom: Carlos Corberan hopes ‘difficulties’ could make them stronger

Despite American businessman Shilen Patel’s era having begun in February, the spectre of previous owner Guochuan Lai’s reign still hangs over The Hawthorns as West Bromwich Albion head into the new season – and the club’s financial situation continues to dominate fan chatter.

After guiding the Baggies to a top-six place last season, boss Carlos Corberan, who was linked with a few jobs during the summer, has already described the upcoming campaign as his “hardest challenge”.

We’ve seen quite a large clear-out of last season’s squad, with 10 players having departed – a necessity as the club aim to avoid a breach of EFL financial rules, knowing that the next set of financial losses will be higher than the last.

High wage earner Matt Phillips was among those released, while Albion cashed in on Okay Yokuslu, top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante and vice-captain Conor Townsend, all of whom were in the last year of their contracts. Player of the year Cedric Kipre was arguably the biggest loss after the expiration of his deal.

The replacements are largely untested at this level. Malian midfielder Ousmane Diakite, Norwegian defender Torbjorn Heggem, Italian left-back Gianluca Frabotta, Villa winger Lewis Dobbin and Devante Cole, who, at the age of 29, has only got one season of second tier football on his CV. But Karlan Grant is back from a loan with Cardiff, with the hope that Corberan can work his magic, as he did with Kipre and Alex Mowatt.

The fact Corberan is still guiding the ship is the biggest positive but whether he can replicate last season’s achievements remains to be seen. It could well be a season in transition with the hope that Albion simply stay within the financial rules.