West Bromwich Albion head coach, Carlos Corberan, has been discussing Cedric Kipre and his admiration of the centre-back currently on loan with Cardiff City.

Kipre was signed by West Brom in the summer of 2020 ahead of their return to the Championship. At that point, Valerien Ismael, was the club's head coach.

Obviously things haven't worked out for Ismael at West Brom and the same can be said of his successor, Steve Bruce, which has led the Baggies to Corberan's door.

Kipre made only 20 appearances for West Brom, picking up further exposure out on loan, firstly with Charleroi and then at Cardiff, where the 26-year-old has impressed in 2022/23, despite the Bluebirds' lowly position in the Championship table.

Corberan has been a long-term admirer and has had an eye on the centre-back's form at Cardiff, knowing that come the summer he will be welcoming Kipre back through the doors at the Hawthorns.

"I was watching him from a long time ago because I played him when he was with Wigan and I was working with Leeds," Corberan revealed, as quoted by the Express and Star.

"I understand why West Bromwich moved him to the club, because he’s one solid player who is comfortable when he is close to his box to defend.

"And at the same time he is one player who is very comfortable with the ball. After that I was not at the club to make the decisions, to decide to send him on loan, and he is a player who I think has missed only two games this season with Cardiff, so he has been a very important player for them.

"He is one player that I like when I have faced him, I saw a very good defender when I played against him."

At the time he joined West Brom in 2020, Kipre put pen-to-paper on a four-year deal at the Hawthorns, meaning that come the summer when he returns from his loan at Cardiff, he will still have 12 months on his contract.

The Verdict

You can see why Corberan would like the look of Kipre.

The centre-backs he had at Huddersfield Town shared similar traits to Kipre in that they were very good at soaking up pressure, dropping deep and, in the words of Corberan, good at defending around their penalty area.

Kipre is having a good season at Cardiff and it is surely worth West Brom considering him for next season given he's still contracted.

Thoughts? Let us know!