Mateo Cassierra will be allowed to leave Belenenses after the striker held talks over a move to Championship table-toppers West Brom, head coach Petit has told O Jogo.
It’s funny how perception works in football.
Tony Pulis was largely derided at the Hawthorns for a direct, bruising approach to the Beautiful Game but there will be few such complaints if Valerien Ismael’s side secures a return to the Premier League driven to glory by long throws and swirling set-pieces.
The nature of last week’s 4-0 battering of Sheffield United certainly suggests Val-ball is having the desired effect, with the likes of Darnell Furlong, Callum Robinson and Ismael’s former Barnsley skipper Alex Mowatt adapting brilliantly to throwback tactics.
In fact, the only thing West Brom are lacking is a striker; a physical, 6ft-something centre-forward capable of getting on the end of those many, many crosses while bullying opposition defenders into submission.
Mateo Cassierra could be the missing piece of West Brom jigsaw
Daryl Dike, Liam Palmer and M’Bala ‘young Drogba’ Nzola have all been linked.
And, according to Mais Futebol, West Brom have also held talks with former Ajax youngster Cassierra, a Colombian powerhouse who scored 11 goals for mid-table Belenenses last season.
“We know about Cassierra’s quality but we know Portuguese football also lives on money,” says Petit, highlighting the sign-low, sell-high transfer policy most Primeira Liga sides live by.
“To buy some players, we have to sell others.
“It’s a good offer for Cassierra, who ends his contract at the end of the season. If it’s good for the team, the club and the player – and if we can get other players – he deserves the opportunity to go to another club and earn his money.”
You would imagine Cassierra, a free agent in 2022, would earn a substantial pay rise at the Hawthorns.
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