The winger has found playing time hard to come by at West Bromwich Albion this season.
Baggies ace James McClean sat down for an exclusive interview with the Derry Journal today, and admitted that his future could very well lie away from the Hawthorns, if he continues to find regular first-team football hard to come by.
McClean joined the Baggies from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2015, for a fee believed to be worth in the region of £1.5 million.
The Republic of Ireland international has played a peripheral role for West Brom so far this season, however, making only seven Premier League starts, and chipping in with just a solitary goal in the process.
At 28, the winger is entering his prime years as a footballer, so he will obviously want to be playing regularly – something that he has not been doing of late.
McClean spoke exclusively to the Derry Journal about his current situation at the Hawthorns, and admitted that he might seek out a new challenge, if he is not offered more regular game-time by Alan Pardew:
“I want regular football, wherever that may be. If it’s the right fit for me and it provides me with regular football then I’m open to anything. I just want to play football. I’m 28 now and the last 18 months have been really frustrating. I feel that I’m at my best when I get a run of games. Ideally I’d rather play week-in, week-out at West Brom, but that hasn’t been the case. I’ll work hard like I always do, but for me, regular football is the be all and end all.”
West Brom currently sit rock bottom of the Premier League table, four points adrift of safety, and the 28-year-old will be hoping that Pardew places his trust in him for the remainder of the campaign.
With so many highly-pressurised games ahead for the Baggies, it could be argued that McClean’s experience of playing in huge matches will be invaluable to his team.
Whether Pardew agrees with that notion, though, remains to be seen.
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