'Also...' - Steve Madeley hints West Brom ace could now be finished at The Hawthorns

The Athletic reporter Steve Madeley has admitted that he doesn’t know where West Brom defender Kean Bryan ‘fits in’ to the first team anymore.

The 25-year-old first joined the Midlands outfit last summer on a two-year deal from fellow Championship side Sheffield United, but has so far only made three appearances in the second-tier of English football having sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury back in November 2021.

It was later confirmed that Bryan would miss the remainder of the season as a result of undergoing surgery, meaning that whenever he does make a return to action, he will probably be behind the likes of Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi in the pecking order, especially considering that the latter has just signed a new long-term contract extension.

In a post on his personal Twitter account, Madeley expressed his concerns surrounding the future of the centre-back and believes that he is nothing but a ‘wildcard’ option, considering that too many players are already competing for game time. He wrote:

“Kean Bryan also a wildcard in the whole equation. He has a year remaining too, but after a first season wrecked by injury and having been signed by a different manager for a very specific reason, it’s really hard to know where he fits in.”

With it recently being claimed that Steve Bruce is keen on trying to bring in Blackburn Rovers captain Darragh Lenihan to bolster his backline ahead of next season, his potential arrival could signal the unfortunate end for Bryan.

Even though picking up the injury isn’t something that he had any control over, the fact that the 6 foot 1 ace has only played 48 minutes of Championship football this term won’t have helped his chances of regaining a place in the match-day squad