The seven West Brom stars set to become free agents including former Bristol City ace and £7m signing
West Brom are battling to avoid relegation this season
West Brom face a period of great uncertainty in the coming months as they battle to keep their Championship status intact after a dismal first half of the campaign which far underweighed just about every supporter's expectations.
The club are already on their second manager of the season after waving goodbye to Ryan Mason but have failed to kick on under new boss Eric Ramsay, who already finds himself in a challenging position after failing to generate any kind of new manager bounce in his first five games.
Baggies supporters also don’t yet know what division the club will be playing in next year. The West Midlands outfit have long had ambitions of reaching the Premier League again after relegation in 2021 but have been nowhere near those levels this season. As it stands, after a 0-0 draw with Stoke City they are narrowly above the drop zone but only by a point after Leicester City’s point deduction and managerless Blackburn’s recent loss to Norwich City. Whatever happens there’s likely to be lots of changes with West Brom over the summer, particularly if they start life in the third-tier.
With that in mind, we look at the seven stars scheduled to become free agents and how they’ve performed this season so far. This is based on information from Transfermarkt.
West Brom out-of-contract stars goalkeeper and defence
Max O’Leary: Long-serving Bristol City goalkeeper O’Leary only joined in January but is due to become a free agent in the summer after only agreeing a six-month contract with the club. He’ll need time to prove his worth and is expected to be the NO.1 from now until May.
Joe Wildsmith: Shot-stopper Wildsmith's contract at West Brom runs down this summer. The ex-Derby County man failed to fill the gaping hole left by Alex Palmer’s departure last season and eventually fell down the pecking order to Alex Griffiths. Now O’Leary has signed he’s fallen ever further behind leading to a surprise loan move to Middlesbrough. By the time he returns his contract will be expired and it seems unlikely at this point that he’ll sign an extension.
West Brom out-of-contract stars midfield and attack
Ousmane Diakite: The Mali international has played 25 times across all competitions this season. Starting 14 and appearing as a substitute in the other nine. He’s been a useful squad player but could potentially depart in June.
Jed Wallace: The club captain has never quite hit the heights for West Brom that he managed for Millwall, but has still played over 130 matches across all competitions. He’s not been a regular this season and will want to improve his performances to help the club survive and earn himself a fresh deal.
Karlan Grant: Former Huddersfield frontman Grant is currently in his sixth and possibly final season at West Brom. In 2021-22 he netted 18 times but other than has failed to hit double figures. He’s currently nursing a hamstring problem that’ll keep him out for a few months having struggled for minutes anyway this season.
Josh Maja: The former Sunderland man was one of the brightest talents in the division at the early part of last season but has struggled to find the same form since returning from injury. The Nigerian is currently behind Aune Heggebo in the pecking order and could be forced to consider other options in the summer.
Daryl Dike: Signed for £7m nearly five years ago, the USA international has consistently struggled with gametime and injuries, scoring just eight times in 46 matches overall, including just once since the start of last season.