West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Pardew is set to pull out of the race for the transfer of Fenerbahce midfielder, Josef de Souza. Since his appointment last month, the Baggies’ French manager has adopted a new transfer policy at the club. The West Midlands outfit were closely linked with a move for the Brazilian international in the summer and had a bid accepted by the Turkish club. However, the player failed to obtain a work permit.
According to Turkish sources, Alan Pardew has asked the club not to go ahead with the signing of the 28-year-old in January. As per the report, the West Brom manager is satisfied with his current midfield options that consist of Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore, Gregorz Krychoiwak and Claudio Jacob for the rest of the campaign.
The Baggies are currently struggling in the Premier League and find themselves in 17th place in the league standings. The newly appointed French manager is yet to stamp his authority at the club and might be hoping to overturn their recent bad run by trusting on the current crop of talent at the club.
Josef has appeared in 16 matches for Fenerbahce this season and scored one goal and made one assist. His form has been mediocre, to say the least, so it’s hard to see how he can help West Brom in their cause to save themselves from a possible relegation. However, Josef has earned loads of experience mostly in Turkish football with his current club, Fenerbahce and in Brazilian football with Gremio and Sao Paulo. The defensive midfielder has also earned 3 international caps with Brazil and will definitely be an experienced head who can keep calm under pressure and help improve the West Brom defence if the Baggies go the extra mile to secure his services.
The Baggies were held to a goalless stalemate in their last match versus Crystal Palace and will now take on fellow relegation battlers, Swansea City this weekend which promises to be a ‘relegation six-pointer’.
With so much speculation before the transfer window opens in January, it remains to be seen whether Alan Pardew’s trust on his midfielders pay off as they fight for their Premier League lives going into the busy Christmas period. If results don’t turn for the better, it would be wise to bring in some quality reinforcements in January.
The Brazilian international, Josef could be one of these new additions if West Brom decides to go along with the transfer. Having said that, it is also difficult to see Alan Pardew go back for a player he clearly doesn’t fancy.
