Chris Lepkowski believes Matt Phillips may have already played his final game for West Brom, following the news that he will be sidelined for at least four months due to injury.
Carlos Corberan announced in his prematch news conference on 6 December that the dynamic wide man’s hamstring is torn and he will be out for a long time, having limped off in the weekend’s 2-1 defeat against Leicester.
“4 months out, contract up in 2024… hopefully not the last we see of Matt Phillips,” Lepkowski wrote. However…”
Realism
At this point, neither Phillips nor West Brom have any alternative but to concentrate on his recuperation and hope that he will be able to contribute meaningfully before the end of the season. He hasn’t missed a Championship match under Corberan so far this season, with only the win at Cardiff City last week (28 November) not being a start.
So, all things being equal, the manager undoubtedly wants the Scotland international to stay for the long haul, but there are now so many unknowns.
West Brom are now financially driven into a corner, so how that affects a contract extension may go either way, but with a much-needed buyout hoped to be completed by then, it could free up the Baggies to bring Phillips back if the manager wants him.
A significant injury at this point, however, raises the question of whether he will be back to his best by the time the contract question becomes now or never.
If this is how the former QPR man’s time at The Hawthorns ends after 248 Albion appearances, it would be a devastating finish, but there is clearly now a considerably higher element of doubt involved in light of the injury news than there was previously.
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