West Bromwich Albion and Southampton played out a tense first leg in the Championship playoffs, with everything to still play for at St. Mary's this coming Friday night.
Finely poised at 0-0, Carlos Corberan will want his attacking players to play without fear on the South Coast knowing that this is their only opportunity now to get to Wembley to be just one contest away from competing in the Premier League again.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Spaniard in the Baggies dug-out sticks by Brandon Thomas-Asante for this crucial second contest or whether he's axed, after failing to strike fear into any of the Southampton defenders throughout the stalemate in the West Midlands.
There could even be grounds for West Brom to sell Thomas-Asante on with these off-displays becoming more and more common, the ex-Salford City attacker cracking under the pressures of a promotion push.
Thomas-Asante's season in numbers
Amazingly, despite these poor recent displays from the 25-year-old striker, Thomas-Asante still boasts the tag of being West Brom's top scorer this season with 11 goals.
Only two of those strikes have come in his last ten games though for the out-of-sorts forward, with his display in the drab stalemate against the Saints angering West Brom fans watching on no doubt.
Corberan must now ditch 4/10 West Brom man who made 4 accurate passes
West Bromwich Albion were let down by this attacker on the big stage.
ByKelan SarsonMay 12, 2024
Only completing four accurate passes in total, his fixed position in the Baggies starting XI could now be up for grabs ahead of the pivotal second leg this coming Friday night.
Staggeringly, despite this notable drop-off in form from the 5 foot 11 striker, his transfer value remains high – according to Football Transfers – with a temptation growing now surely to sell on the misfiring attacker, particularly if they seal promotion.
Thomas-Asante's transfer value in 2024
Even with shouts for Josh Maja to start ahead of Thomas-Asante for the first crunch leg against Southampton, the 25-year-old's transfer value still stands high at £2.9m which sees his worth double that of standout Celtic loanee Mikey Johnston.
That's the case despite Johnston being a breath fresh of air in attack for the Baggies alongside the likes of Tom Fellows and Grady Diangana, a daring attacking presence unafraid to excite the Hawthorns masses with seven goals notched up from 19 league appearances which included a sumptuous strike against Coventry City in March.
The Irish winger's worth only stands at a lesser £1.4m regardless, even with Thomas-Asante continuing to fire blanks in a role that should be filled by a talismanic and deadly figure for the promotion hopefuls.
Worth more than the likes of Cedric Kipre and Alex Mowatt as well, who are valued in the region of £1.7m and £1.5m respectively despite being dependable first-teamers under Corberan in the regular season, West Brom must be considering whether cashing in on their inconsistent forward is the best way to go when the playoffs conclude if they can get anywhere near his hefty £2.9m valuation.
2024
£2.9m
2023
£1.2m
2022
£258k
2021
£430k
2019
£0
2018
£60k
Sourced by Football Transfers
West Brom should be commended for taking a chance on Thomas-Asante back in 2022, when the 25-year-old striker was cutting his teeth in League Two before moving up the EFL ladder, but there will be concerns that his high value now will deplete if he doesn't find his shooting boots again soon.
He could still redeem himself on the other hand too, scoring a potentially decisive goal away at Southampton to break out of his rut and take his side to Wembley.
