West Brom urged to take “advantage” of Cardiff City and seal double transfer
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
West Bromwich Albion have been urged to try and take advantage of Cardiff City’s relegation from the Championship by pursuing two of their talented young players.
Cardiff were relegated in bottom place in the division at the end of the season, while West Brom finished ninth.
Both clubs are in something of a state of flux at the moment. They’re both managerless after both sacking their managers within a couple of days of each other in April. Neither has appointed a replacement.
But West Brom need a refresh if they’re to get back to challenging for a place in the Premier League. They no longer receive parachute payments following their last relegation from the Premier League in 2021, and the addition of Birmingham City and Wrexham from League One may also add to the pressure on clubs hoping to get at least a play-off place next season.
West Brom should pursue “really talented players” at Cardiff
FLW spoke to West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess and asked him to name one realistic signing that he’d love Albion to make this summer and why. He told us: “I’d like Albion to try and take advantage of Cardiff’s relegation from the Championship, and I’d like to see what price Alex Robertson or Rubin Colwill will be available for. I think they’re talented young players, which, after the signing of Isaac Price, could fit the mold that Shilam Patel is looking to bring to the football club.
“I think they’re really talented players,” he continued. “Colwill has had a bit of a tough time in terms of inconsistency, but I really think there’s a player there. Robertson did really well at Portsmouth and seemed to do alright in making the step-up to the Championship. And I think if they do leave Cardiff and join another Championship club they’ll kick on and their values will just go higher and higher. Cardiff’s relegation presents a good opportunity to get them cut-price.”
Alex Robertson and Rubin Colwill are two extremely hot prospects
Cardiff may have been relegated from the Championship at the end of last season, but that’s not to say that there isn’t talent among their number, and both Alex Robertson and Rubin Colwill are extremely highly regarded.
| Alex Robertson & Rubin Colwill’s 2024/25 Championship Records | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches played | Minutes played | Goals | Assists | Average Rating | |
| Alex Robertson | 35 | 2426 | 3 | 3 | 7.05 |
| Rubin Colwill | 43 | 2529 | 1 | 4 | 6.89 |
Figures from Sofascore
Robertson joined Cardiff from Manchester City in August 2024 for a fee which was reported to be just under £1 million, with the potential to rise to £3 million including add-ons. He picked up two international caps for Australia in 2023.
Colwill’s career path has been very different to Robertson’s. He is a product of the Cardiff academy, having joined at eight. He made his first debut for them in 2021 and has now made 139 League appearances for their first team, and has also picked up nine caps for Wales.
But both are excellent young prospects who would benefit from staying in the Championship. West Brom would likely benefit from having them among their ranks.
West Brom sign £6m Coventry City star and £2m midfielder as AI predicts monster summer transfer window
The Baggies are still yet to appoint a new head coach to replace Tony Mowbray but that hasn’t stopped the club from planning ahead for possible transfer business.
As Mowbray revealed during his explosive final press conference, there’s a disconnect between the recruitment team and manager at The Hawthorns, so, on the transfer front, it doesn’t really matter that a successor is yet to be hired. It would be handy to have some direction on tactics and formation, of course, but it’s not an absolute necessity.
There’s expected to be quite the turnover of players this summer as Grady Diangana, John Swift and Semi Ajayi are departing at the end of their contracts and a number of other players – including Kyle Bartley, Jed Wallace, Alex Mowatt, Karlan Grant, Josh Maja and Daryl Dike – are entering their final 12 months.
