West Bromwich Albion couldn’t have started the season worse, following a bad summer where they had to part ways with their former captain Darren Fletcher as well as an experienced centre-half Jonas Olsson. Tony Pulis’ side, nonetheless, have kept their composure winning the first two games with relative ease.
It was a classic 1-0-Pulis win that the Welsh manager always plans for with the side sitting deep in their half and hitting on the counter. The Baggies finished in the top half last season and they are surely targeting a Europa League spot this time. However, the manager surely doesn’t plan on risking such low margin wins throughout the season as he knows it will not be easy and sooner or later the luck factor would come in.
While 26-year-old Ahmed Hegazy has been a good gamble for the Welsh manager with Egyptian international already scoring once in the opening two games, he only has three centre-halves at his disposal, which is too little for someone who primarily wants his side to defend, as their first strategy.
A centre half’s arrival at the Hawthorns is long overdue and with just more than a week to go before the transfer window closes, Pulis will have to act and fast.
Ideally, a player who has Premier League experience and can be thrown right into the mix from the beginning is who would be preferable, and Liverpool reject Mamadou Sakho and Tottenham Hotspur reject Kevin Wimmer fit the description well.
The fact that both the players are available is undeniable with both the clubs stating it and it remains up to Pulis to make a decision. Both of them excel in different attributes. While the gigantic frame and aggressive defending of Sakho would surely be of a massive help for any Premier League side, his indiscipline and injury-prone nature could be a huge gamble.
He had single handedly kept Crystal Palace up last season and with only occasional Premier League games coming his way in the past one season, he will be raring to go. Kevin Wimmer, on the hand, is a technical defender and with more game time will only increase his sharpness. The Austrian international is known for his game reading abilities and can also play passes from the deep field.
Given Pulis’ fetish for organizational defending, Wimmer should be an ideal candidate and with little competition to run through, the player would be a real catch.
