Bruce can land big Livermore upgrade as WBA eye move for “exceptional” £8k-p/w maestro - opinion

West Bromwich Albion have the joint-eighth oldest squad on average in the Championship alongside recently-promoted Nottingham Forest, according to Transfermarkt.

One player in their ranks who is above the average squad age of 26.7 is Jake Livermore.

In fact, once Andy Carroll officially becomes a free agent next month, the midfielder will be the oldest outfield player at The Hawthorns.

Livermore’s latest season with the Baggies turned out to be a rather underwhelming one as he ended up being shown the same number of red cards as the number of goal contributions he made for the team (two).

With a measly overall performance rating of 6.53/10, the midfielder ended the campaign as one of the lowest-rated outfield players currently at the club to start more than one game according to WhoScored.

With that in mind, the upcoming summer transfer window could give the Midlands club the chance to bring in a suitable upgrade for the 32-year-old as they look to win promotion back to the Premier League.

One man who could fit this bill and who has been mentioned with a move to The Hawthorns recently is Lewis O’Brien.

Having racked up 126 appearances in the Championship, in which he has scored eight goals and delivered 10 assists, the 23-year-old certainly has the experience in him to be a ready-made first-team option for Steve Bruce.

To compare the two midfielders from their recent individual league campaigns, the £8k-per-week Huddersfield gem had more goals, assists, shots, crosses and successful tackles than Livermore. This highlights just how much of an all-around midfield option he could be for the Baggies.

Labelled an “exceptional” player by his manager Carlos Corberan, O’Brien earned himself an overall season rating of 7.09/10