West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan has warned that there is a lot of work to be done to get the Baggies into decent shape for next season, following their defeat in the Championship play-offs.
In their first season following the end of their Premier League parachute payments, and having finally gone through the trauma of a long-drawn-out takeover, Corberan over-achieved by leading Albion to fifth in the table.
They then got shown up by Southampton over two legs in the play-off semi-finals but Corberan’s obvious need for a summer overhaul if Albion are to be a Championship force next season will be determined by whether he is allowed to invest in his squad.
Albion have nine players whose contracts expire next month – midfielders Matt Phillips, Alex Mowatt, Nathaniel Chalobah, Yann M’Vila and Adam Reach and defenders Cedric Kipre, Erik Pieters, Martin Kelly and Pipa.
“We know there is a lot that we need do during this summer,” Corberan told BBC Radio WM.
“In terms of the number of players that are going to be out of contract and for the things that we need to grow and the things that we need to create.”
Albion recorded an £11m loss for the 2022-23 campaign – the final full season under the ownership of Guochuan Lai.
But the annual report estimates that the club is still losing a seven-figure sum on a monthly basis.
“It will be now according to the financial possibilities and financial restrictions that every team has,” Corberan said.
“Sometimes the future of the clubs depend about the past of the clubs too but from tomorrow we will start to work on this.”
Despite the February takeover by Florida businessmen Shilen Patel, and his father Dr Kiran C Patel, and the air of positivity that brought back to The Hawthorns, next year’s financial losses are expected to be even bigger.
Albion will also not be the only club working under the new EFL rules governing how much clubs are allowed to spend.
But Corberan has worked miracles on little money with since arriving in October 2022 and he and head of football operations Ian Pearce now face a few weeks of intensive plotting.
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