Report: Alan Pardew scouts West Brom’s Ali Gabr play for Egypt

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West Bromwich Albion fans are yet to see Ali Gabr in action for the first-team following his January arrival.

According to a report from the Express and Star, Alan Pardew travelled to Switzerland to watch Egypt’s friendly with Greece which saw forgotten West Brom loanee Ali Gabr play the full 90 minutes.

In the wake of the brilliant coup that was Ahmed Hegazi’s permanent move to The Hawthorns, the Baggies seemingly attempted to repeat the trick by signing his international teammate on a similar deal, with the Express and Star reporting that the Premier League’s bottom side could make the move permanent in the summer.

However, West Brom fans would be forgiven for forgetting that they had brought the defender in at all as he is yet to make his debut for the club and has only been on the bench once. The writing appeared to be on the wall for the 29-year-old when he travelled with the team for the game against Bournemouth only to be left out of the matchday squad altogether.

But perhaps there may be a glimmer of hope for Gabr as the Express and Star reports that Pardew travelled to watch the defender play for his country in their 1-0 defeat to Greece.

The Express and Star reports that Pardew wanted to have a close look at the defender, and it must also be noted that Hegazi was an unused substitute, so the Baggies boss would have been able to pay closer attention to Gabr.

It remains to be seen whether Gabr’s display did enough to tempt Pardew to give him a chance in the coming weeks, but perhaps it may be worth rolling the dice with him in the remaining games.

The Baggies appear to be going down, so taking a look at Gabr ahead of the summer transfer window may be a smart move just to get a better idea of whether he could be worth signing permanently ahead of a probable campaign in the second tier.