West Bromwich Albion arguably pulled off one of the bargains of the season landing Matt Phillips, so perhaps they should look to repeat the trick.
West Bromwich Albion’s Matt Phillips
Given how much of a success Matt Phillips has been since his move to West Brom in the summer, Tony Pulis would be forgiven for scouting similarly talented players currently plying their trade in the Championship in the hope of repeating the trick.
Phillips has arguably proved to be one of the bargains of the season across the entire Premier League, with four goals and eight assists coming in the top flight following his £5.5 million move in the summer (via Sky Sports).
Like Phillips during his time with Queens Park Rangers, Derby County winger Tom Ince is a player who many have backed to step up to the highest level for a while now, so perhaps the Baggies should hand him the chance.
Across his two spells with the Rams, Ince has scored a staggering 36 goals – including 13 this season – and contributed 14 assists in the Championship, which is a tremendous return for a player who predominantly plays out on the wing.
At 25 – one year younger than Phillips – Ince may be starting to feel that he is running out of chances to earn that Premier League move while some of his best years are still in front of him, especially with Derby looking to be too far back to challenge for the play-off places this season.
Derby’s Tom Ince
Therefore, if the opportunity to move to the Hawthorns presented itself in the summer, he would surely find it incredibly difficult to turn down especially with Pulis’ men performing so well this year.
Ince would surely cost more than £5.5 million, but if he could replicate the contribution that Phillips has made during his time with West Brom, then the Baggies would surely reflect that signing Ince was another fantastic piece of business.
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