If anything summed up West Bromwich Albion‘s season, it was the way in which they lost to Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the Championship campaign.
Under James Morrison, he has revived the Baggies in quite some style. They were a sinking ship under Eric Ramsay but the former midfielder has steadied the ship.
Before their defeat against the Owls, a team that finished on zero points, Albion had gone unbeaten across their last ten. A points deduction threatened to get in the way but such a run of form ensured that West Brom were never actually going to get relegated.
The same, however, could not be said for another Premier League team, Leicester City. Ten years after winning the Premier League, they have been relegated.
As a result, it is expected that the Foxes are pillaged by Premier League and Championship sides. West Brom are one club hoping to take advantage.
West Brom must look at signing Leicester winger
With Morrison having done enough to earn himself the permanent gig at the Hawthorns, all eyes will turn to the transfer window.
First on the agenda will be organising contract renewals. That’s if Morrison has any desire to keep Jed Wallace, Karlan Grant, Daryl Dike, Josh Maja, Max O’Leary and Joe Wildsmith around.
The six players are all out of contract in the summer and it remains to be seen whether they will be handed fresh terms.
The fact of the matter is that neither Grant, Dike or Maja offered enough goals last term, hence their low position in the table.
Maja scored six, Grant bagged four and Dike ended up with just two. If they wanted to be ruthless, they would get rid of them all and start afresh in the summer window.
There is also the real threat of Isaac Price leaving. The Northern Irishman began the season as a midfielder but ended it on the left wing, scoring twice in nine games to help Albion stay up. He has been linked with a few teams in the Premier League and if he does go, a replacement will be required.
That’s where Leicester’s relegation could come in handy. According to a report from Sports Boom this week, Derby County and Watford are looking to take advantage of the Foxes’ plight by signing Stephy Mavididi.
Signed for £7m, his valuation will have dropped significantly after back-to-back relegations, leading to a belief that Champions sides could offer him an escape route out of the King Power.
It would not be a great surprise if most of the second-tier were after him. Albion are not linked yet, but he’s a player they should have on their radar.
Why West Brom should sign Stephy Mavididi from Leicester
The fact of the matter is that West Brom’s forward line was simply not good enough this season.
Aune Heggebo fired home ten strikes but he wasn’t given much help by anyone else. Price ended 2025/26 with eight goals and was perhaps their most lively player throughout the campaign.
If Price leaves, that would only make things worse but they will at least hope to get Mikey Johnston back. His absence, courtesy of a stress fracture, certainly didn’t help.
Providing Johnston is back in time for the new campaign, he would represent a fine replacement for Price but Mavididi would too.
|
Mavididi’s Championship record |
|
|---|---|
|
Games |
98 |
|
Goals |
15 |
|
Assists |
8 |
|
Minutes played |
6,273 |
|
Mins per goal |
418 |
|
Mins per G/A |
272 |
On paper, the 27-year-old’s numbers do not make for great reading. As Leicester were relegated, the left winger scored just three goals and registered two assists. Yet, in a toxic environment, it felt like everyone in the squad was destined to fail.
The former Arsenal academy man actually had a better season at Premier League level in 2024/25. That was perhaps unsurprising, particularly when you consider he was one of the standout players in the Championship in 2023/24 as Leicester won the league under Enzo Maresca.
He scored 12 times that campaign, also supplying six assists. He was seriously dangerous, notably ranking inside the best 5% of Championship wingers for progressive carries and the top 6% for touches in the opposition’s penalty box per 90 minutes.
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
In total, he made 1.73 dribbles per 90 minutes that season, enough to rank him in the top 25% for that metric. As a result, you could say he was a Grady Diangana-type winger.
During his final season in the Midlands, the winger showcased himself to be just as lively. In the last few years, they are undoubtedly two of the finest dribblers to grace the division, with Diangana amassing 1.88 dribbles per 90 back in 2024/25. That ranked him inside the top 18% of second-tier wingers.
With Johnston struggling for fitness and Price not a natural wide player, you could say that West Brom are still searching for his replacement.
Well, if they took an interest in Mavididi, they could well fix that problem.
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