West Brom Opinion: Baggies should beat Norwich City to sign Chris Willock
According to claims from Portuguese news outlet A Bola, as cited by Eastern Daily Press, Norwich City, West Brom, QPR and Hull City are all interested in signing former Arsenal academy graduate Chris Willock from Benfica.
Easter Daily Press reports that Benfica are prepared to offload the promising 21-year-old forward this summer, just a couple of seasons after signing him from Arsenal.
Benfica were reluctant to let the Englishman depart in the January transfer window but the Primeira Liga giants have changed their stance regarding the youngster, although they would still demand a significant sell-on clause from any future move. (h/t Eastern Daily Press)
Willock was held in very high regard in Arsenal’s youth academy and made his senior professional debut for the Gunners in a League Cup tie against Nottingham Forest in 2016. However, the youngster signed a five-year deal with Benfica in the summer of 2017 to secure more first-team opportunities.
However, things haven’t gone according to the script for the talented Englishman and he has apparently failed to make the grade at Benfica, featuring largely for the club’s reserve side in the Portuguese second division.
Willock has scored 14 goals from 59 appearances for Benfica B over the course of his two years at the club, although he has never been close to making a first-team appearance.
As things stand, Willock’s development in Portugal hasn’t gone according to plan and a return to English football would be the best possible thing for the 21-year-old. Norwich, Hull, West Brom and QPR are all prepared to offer him an escape route and it remains to be seen where his future lies next season.
To put things into perspective, a move to a promotion-chasing club in the Championship would be in the best interest of the player. Norwich are set to play in the Premier League next season, meaning that Willock would hardly get a chance to perform in the top-flight.
Hull and QPR are not really in the promotion mix in the Championship but a move to promotion-hopefuls West Brom should work wonders for the 21-year-old.
The 21-year-old has represented England at all youth levels upto U-20 but he is yet to get a real taste of football at the senior professional level, meaning that the Championship should be an ideal platform for him to hone his skills.
A technically-gifted and tactically-versatile forward, Willock is capable of playing on their side of the attack as a wide-forward and also through the centre as a supporting striker.
The former Arsenal starlet is noted for his exceptional ball control, lightning pace, silky dribbling skills and good vision, making him a really useful asset in the final third.
Blessed with plenty of flair and trickery, he often tends to drop deep to pick up the ball and embarks on lung-busting runs- setting his team on the front foot and tearing the opposition to pieces. To add to that, his decision-making and composure belie his tender years.
West Brom can certainly do with another talented youngster in their ranks after losing to Aston Villa in the playoff semi-finals. If a move does materialize in the summer, Willock would probably go into the U23 before he gets an opportunity in the senior team.
However, the 21-year-old is incredibly talented and given that the Baggies do not have too many wide options in their 3-4-3 playing style, Willock might knock the door at Hawthorns soon enough.
The Baggies are yet to make a decision on the futures of loanees Dwight Gayle, Jacob Murphy, Jefferson Montero and Stefan Johansen and missing out on promotion will certainly impact their stance.
Given that Gayle has been in prolific form this season, might consider making his stay permanent, but the others probably haven’t done enough.
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West Brom have the likes of Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu, both of whom are expected to be at the club next season and play a key role in their promotion push.
However, Chris Willock is a promising youngster and the Baggies should try to bring him into their reserve side this summer, with a view to grooming him for a future first-team role.
