EVANS LEADS EXODUS
Bagg drop crisis
WEST BROM’S nightmare season has seen them hit a financial brick wall.
Their impending relegation has massive implications for the Premier League’s bottom club, with a host of players set to leave in cut-price deals in the summer.
Top of that list will be skipper Jonny Evans (right), who can leave for just £3m if they go down.
Gareth Barry, Kieran Gibbs, Jay Rodriguez, Craig Dawson, Nacer Chadli and Jake Livermore could also be on their way if Albion go down.
The loan deals of Daniel Sturridge and Grzegorz Krychowiak also come to an end to complete the exodus.
West Brom troubleshooter Mark Jenkins says he is alarmed at the club’s quick decline.
Chinese owner Guochuan Lai has brought back Jenkins, who quit after 14 years in December 2016, to try and sort out the financial mess afflicting the club.
Doomed Albion have announced a record £39m pre-tax profit for last season but that was followed by a £40m transfer splurge in the summer.
That and vastly increased wages leave the club seeking an overdraft facility for the first time in a decade.
Baggies chief executive Jenkins, back after Lai’s shock sacking of his successor Martin Goodman and chairman John Williams, said: “I am back and I am shocked at how much the club has changed.
“I’m very, very surprised at how things have changed. From having £40m in the bank to needing an overdraft facility is quite a substantial shift in such a short period.
“The club has gone beyond its own financial limits. Those two members of the board who have left went beyond those limits.”