Chris is fighting fit again for 11th season at Albion
WHAT a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Chris Brunt was progressing in his long-awaited return to the West Bromwich Albion team, having cruelly been deprived a deserved place in Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 squad.
He was training alone, slowly making his way back into the fold after the serious setback suffered against Crystal Palace in February last year.
Now Brunt, looking forward to his 11th season with Albion, has a full pre-season under his belt.
“This time last year it was a bit different for me, I wasn’t involved really in any of the football, I was just cycling and starting my own running,” he said. “I was doing a lot of stuff on my own so it’s nice to be involved with the squad and doing everything that everyone else has been doing.
“That was the first time in my career I had ever really experienced an injury like that, so it’s something different and not one you’d want to experience again, but I feel better now for coming through the back of it. I enjoyed last season when I got back out on the pitch and hopefully I can hit the ground running this year after a full pre-season.
“I’ve been here a long time, I’m not getting any younger and it’s getting more difficult to get yourself out there and ready to go every Saturday! I’m enjoying the challenge.”
As Albion made their way home after the Premier League Asia Trophy campaign in Hong Kong, there was a double-header against Burton and Walsall this week and then trips to Bristol Rovers and Deportivo La Coruna across the next two Saturdays before the Premier League curtain-raiser with Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, Albion are weighing up a fourth bid for Middlesbrough centre-back Ben Gibson.
Boro are believed to have rejected three offers for the 24-year-old, the highest amounting to a club-record £21 million including add-ons.
But Tony Pulis is determined to get his man and Albion are now thought to be preparing another approach.
Whether an improved offer would be enough to tempt Boro remains to be seen. The Teessiders see Gibson as being worth something similar to fellow England squad member Michael Keane.
Keane moved from Burnley to Everton earlier this summer in a deal valued at £25 million, potentially rising to £30 million.
Having received a healthy slice of the Premier League’s lucrative TV rights deal, Boro are in a strong financial position, despite suffering relegation. It’s understood the club is ready to offer Gibson a bumper new contract.
Furthermore, Boro chairman Steve Gibson, the player’s uncle, has already supported new boss Garry Monk in the transfer market in a bid to win promotion at the first attempt.
Gibson sanctioned the £15 million club-record signing of striker Britt Assombalonga from Nottingham Forest and has told Monk he doesn’t need to sell his best players this summer.
Gibson was called up by England boss Gareth Southgate for the internationals in March and June, although he was an unused sub in the World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland and the friendly in France.