#5 Josip Brekalo
Embed from Getty ImagesJosip Brekalo will perhaps be a name which is unfamiliar to West Brom supporters, but the 22-year-old winger has been quietly impressing in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg in the last couple of years.
There haven’t been any reports linking the tricky wide man to The Hawthorns as of yet, but with a Diangana-shaped hole in the Albion squad, Brekalo could be the alternative to West Ham’s on-loan star.
There are some concerns surrounding the quality of Brekalo’s final product — he’s quite raw and with only three goals and four assists in 30 appearances last season there are question marks over his ability to convert in the final third.
But there is no doubt that his potential, sheer pace and his ability to isolate full-backs and go at defenders is not dissimilar to Diangana.
He’s more of a flair player than Oršić, he’s less direct and relies more on skill to beat his man.
With the Oršić transfer slowly progressing there may not be room for another right-footed left-winger at Albion, but with Brekalo slipping down the pecking order at Wolfsburg he could be available on loan, which would remove the risk involved in a multi-year deal for a raw prospect.
The Oršić deal looks far more likely, this Brekalo acquisition is just speculation, but after a quick glance at his performances and characteristics he does seem like a Bilić player.
With age on his side, he could prove too expensive and he may not even be interested in a move to The Hawthorns, but there’s a long time until the window closes and I expect a host of names, particularly Croatian names, to be linked to West Brom over the summer — and Brekalo could well be one of them.
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