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da imperador bet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Sun, Charlie Austin is a target for West Brom as Slaven Bilic looks to ramp up his preparations for the new campaign.
What’s the word?
West Brom’s problem wasn’t particularly with goals last season as Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez scored a combined 46 between them.
The Baggies were one of the highest scorers in the Championship, netting 87 times during the course of the campaign.
However, they do look as though they’re in the hunt for a new striker this summer.
That’s according to The Sun who suggest that Austin is a target for the club. The report claims that West Brom are willing to meet Southampton’s £8m valuation of the player.
They might not face a straightforward chase to sign him as Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Fulham are also interested.
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Austin could be game-changing
The 29-year-old endured a pretty dismal 2018/19, finding the net just two times for the Saints in the Premier League.
He found it a struggle to get into the side, starting just 11 times. However, that arguably isn’t a fair reflection of the player he is.
The 6 ft 2 star’s record season in front of goal in the top-flight is 18 strikes but it’s seemingly in the Championship where he feels at home.
During the 2015/16 season, he scored 10 goals in 16 games whilst he netted 19 in 34 for QPR two years prior to that.
West Brom are likely going to need to replace Gayle next season and Austin could be the man to do it.
The former is a player who seemed to flourish in the second tier, finding the net 24 times last term but West Brom’s target comes close to matching him in terms of his Championship record.
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At £8m, it would be an expensive buy for a side in the Championship but it could prove the difference between whether they achieve promotion or not.
Austin has been part of a play-off winning side before, going up in 2014, so his experience of that situation, as well as his ability to score goals means Bilic could strike gold.
This would be a smart start to the window for the Baggies if they could get a deal over the line.