West Bromwich Albion manager Sam Allardyce is keen to sign former France international Clement Grenier on a free transfer from Rennes, as reported by the Sun.
Surely Karlan Grant cannot be expected to shoulder all the blame.
Yes, the £15 million striker has scored just once since joining West Brom from Huddersfield over the summer, but there is only so much one man can do.
Grant has been starved by a paucity of chances served up by a Baggies side who average the least key passes per game (5.9) of any Premier League team (WhoScored).
So, on paper at least, Grenier could be exactly what West Brom – and Grant in particular – need.
The Les Bleus play-maker is 30 now and has an injury history longer than the Bayeux Tapestry. But no one in Allardyce’s squad can match Grenier when it comes to opening up opposition backlines.
Arsene Wenger even compared the former Lyon wonder-kid to Samir Nasri back in 2013, when Arsenal were weighing up an £8 million deal for the set-piece specialist.
“We are following (Grenier),” Wenger told Telefoot, via The Mail. “His intelligence of play pleases me. He has interesting qualities. He reminds me of Nasri.”
Seven years on, Grenier could finally be heading to England, with Rennes willing to cancel the final few months of the veteran midfielder’s contract.
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