Fenerbahce’s Josef de Souza explains why West Brom move fell through

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West Brom reportedly agreed a deal to sign Fener midfielder Josef de Souza but the £10.6m transfer didn’t happen in the end.

Though West Brom went down 2-0 to Arsenal on Monday night, the performances of Gareth Barry and Grzegorz Krychowiak in the centre of the park would be enough to make most other mid-table manager’s glow green with envy.

Barry, who became the Premier League’s all-time record appearance holder as he made his 633^rd outing against Arsene Wenger’s side, continues to ooze class at the ripe old age of 36 while Polish midfielder Krychowiak, a loanee from PSG, has been linked to a big-money move to Arsenal in the recent past.

Perhaps the presence of two genuinely top quality central-midfielders, then, is the primary reason why Josef de Souza did not end up at The Hawthorns this summer.

“The offer [West Brom] was great, I was seriously considering moving to England,” the Fenerbahce midfielder was quoted as saying by Turkish-Football. “(But) there was a lot of competition in midfield and I was concerned about playing time.

“(Fener manager) Aykut Kocaman made my decision for me after promising first-team football and revealing that I am part of his plans.”

The Express and Star reported with just days to go before the close of the summer transfer window that West Brom had agreed a £10.6 million deal for the three-time Brazil international.

However, the deal fell through with Brazilian publication Globo Esporte claiming Souza’s representatives did not agree with some of the clauses put forward by West Brom while the club were also less than impressed with the demands made by the Brazilian.

Yet, Souza’s claim that he was concerned about game time also make perfect sense with Barry, Krychowiak and the underrated Jake Livermore, not to mention the long-serving Claudio Yacob and James Morrison plus highly-rated youngster Sam Field all fighting for a place in the starting XI.