Valerien Ismael’s West Brom have joined Championship rivals Nottingham Forest in the race to sign Emiliano Marcondes when his Brentford contract expires this week, as reported by The Express.
The skilful Dane certainly played his part as Thomas Frank’s Bees finally secured their place in the Premier League.
But, despite featuring 34 times en route to promotion and scoring during a man of the match showing in the play-off final, it seems the journey has come to a premature end for Marcondes.
It’s a cruel game, football.
“I was truly disappointed my contract wasn’t renewed,” the 26-year-old told Sky Sports a few days ago.
“I had a great time in Brentford, I made lots of friends and had a good connection with the fans. But that is football. Now it’s time to move on and I wish Brentford the best of luck.”
Marcondes may have been denied a chance to make his mark in the Premier League alongside Ivan Toney and co. But, if he’s sipping champagne on the Wembley turf again ten months from now, well that would be some consolation.
Could Marcondes lead West Brom back to the promised land?
A West Brom side chock-full of proven, Championship-experienced players is one of the early favourites for the second-tier title in 2021/22.
That’s especially so after hiring a manager in Ismael who can boast a superb track record when it comes to building a side greater than the sum of it’s parts. And West Brom’s parts are already quite impressive by Championship standards.
According to The Express, Ismael was pushing for Barnsley to bring Marcondes to Oakwell as recently as last week.
But since Ismael has now swapped South Yorkshire for West Bromwich, Marcondes could end up joining the 45-year-old at the Hawthorns instead.
The attacker’s agent has also informed the Express that Nottingham Forest have shown an interest, with the two-time European champions having been linked in January too.
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