West Brom to bank £7m from sale of defender Dara O'Shea - but target moves for two strikers
- Simon Wilkes
- 22 June 2023
West Brom are expected to sell Dara O'Shea to Burnley for a £7million fee if he passes a medical - but have a readymade replacement in Caleb Taylor.
Burnley are expected to sign West Brom defender Dara O'Shea for a bargain £7million fee if he passes a medical at Turf Moor.
The news broke on Wednesday that Vincent Kompany's Clarets were in talks with Albion to sign their captain, who has an £8m release clause in his contract.
And it emerged on Thursday that the Premier League outfit will sign O'Shea for under that amount, with the deal expected to go through for £7m.
That is less than the Baggies might have wanted for the Republic of Ireland international, who has risen through the ranks at The Hawthorns to become their most saleable asset.
But the end of parachute payments from the Premier League and ongoing financial uncertainty at the club means Albion have accepted Burnley's slightly lower bid for O'Shea, who made 37 league appearances last season.
West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan is unlikely to be given much of the fee to reinvest in the playing squad - but he has a readymade replacement for O'Shea in the shape of Caleb Taylor.
The 20-year-old central defender, like O'Shea, is a product of the youth team and spent last season on loan at Cheltenham Town.
Taylor made 42 league appearances, scoring two goals, and was named Town's Young Player of the Season.
So he is being assessed by Corberan in pre-season training to see if he can fight Semi Ajayi, Kyle Bartley and Cedric Kipre for a starting spot in the backline.
If Corberan is given some money to spend this summer, he is likely to target a new striker to provide cover for injury-plagued frontman Daryl Dike.
Blackpool's Jerry Yates and Peterborough striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, who has scored 69 goals in 122 appearances since moving to Posh for £1.2m in August 2020, have been mentioned as possible summer targets, with both rated in the £3-4m bracket.
