Former West Bromwich Albion and England midfielder Carlton Palmer believes that whoever becomes the new Baggies manager must have transfer funds available to them to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The Baggies thought they had rid themselves of their yo-yo club tag after spending eight seasons in the top flight between 2010 and 2018, but after returning to the Premier League in 2020 they headed straight back down.

Slaven Bilic was replaced by the experience of Sam Allardyce after just 13 games and despite being a specialist in saving clubs from the drop, there was no wizardry from the former England boss this time around.

Despite the best efforts of star performers such as Matheus Pereira and Sam Johnstone, the Baggies are once again a Championship club and they're looking for a new manager.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer believes that the money coming in next season from parachute payments and the potential sales of Johnstone and Pereira needs to be reinvested in the team to ensure that the club returns to the top flight in the quickest way possible.

 

 

 

 

"You would like to think West Brom are going to have parachute payments money, they're going to be one of the wealthier clubs in the Championship next season," Palmer told FLW.

"I think they went down and came back the first time of asking (last time) - Slaven brought them back - so you would think that there's going to be adequate resources to do the job.

"So it's just getting the right fit for the football club and the right person that matches the DNA of the club that you want to go forward."

After failing to get through the play-offs in 2018-19, the Baggies spent major money the following season, bringing in the likes of Kenneth Zohore, Charlie Austin and Romaine Sawyers for decent fees and Pereira and Filip Krovinovic on loan.

There could be a similar spending spree this summer to strengthen the West Brom squad and it'll definitely be needed if top stars are lost.