According to the Sun’s journalist Tom Barclay (h/t Derbyshire Live), Derby County have been credited with an interest in out-of-favour West Brom striker Charlie Austin.
West Brom are looking to offload a few players before the domestic deadline on October 16 and Austin has been deemed surplus to requirements by manager Slaven Bilic. The 31-year-old is yet to feature for the Baggies in the Premier League this season so far. (h/t Derbyshire Live)
Austin’s wages could be a stumbling block for Derby but it has been claimed that the Rams remain hopeful of completing a deal for the veteran to bring him to Pride Park.
Charlie Austin started his career with Hungerford Town, Kintbury Rangers, and Poole Town in the non-league arena before making his mark in the Football League system with Swindon Town in the third-tier.
He went on to plunder 45 goals in 90 appearances for Burnley and followed it up with an impressive tally of 48 goals in 89 appearances for QPR, including an 18-goal season in the 2014-15 Premier League. Austin joined Southampton in January 2016 and spent three three-and-a-half seasons on the south coast, scoring 20 goals in 81 outings for the Saints.
Having struggled for consistency and game time in the Premier League, Austin took a step back down to the Championship with West Brom last summer. He scored 10 goals in 34 appearances for Slaven Bilic’s side last season as the Baggies secured automatic promotion to the top-flight.
Charlie Austin hasn’t featured for the Baggies in the PL this season so far, with both his appearances coming in the club’s EFL Cup campaign. The 31-year-old has even failed to make the matchday squads for three out of West Brom’s opening four league fixtures before the international break, which pretty much sums up his position in the pecking order at the Hawthorns.
Bilic has preferred Callum Robinson as his first-choice No.9 with Hal Robson-Kanu as the designated understudy, leaving Austin to gather dust on the sidelines. Robinson scored twice in the 3-3 draw against Chelsea but has looked like a complete misfit while leading the attack in the other games.
Austin has a decent record in the Premier League, having bagged 34 goals in 106 career appearances in the top-flight. However, his form at the highest level hasn’t been all that impressive over the past few seasons, considering that he scored only twice in 25 appearances for Southampton during the 2018-19 campaign.
Add to that his advancing years and it’s not difficult to understand why he hasn’t been considered as a feasible option by Bilic in the Premier League this season.
Truth be told, West Brom can do a lot worse than having an experienced striker like Charlie Austin in their ranks. But given that Bilic doesn’t seem to have him in his plans and with Austin having just one year left on his contract, offloading the 31-year-old would be a smart piece of business. The Baggies should look to reinvest those funds to bring in a new striker before the domestic deadline.