West Bromwich Albion fans have reacted to the news that Dwight Gayle will not be joining the club permanently.
Gayle impressed in his loan season at The Hawthorns, finishing at top scorer with 24 goals, but Albion are not in a position to sign him from Newcastle United.
Technical director Luke Dowling confirmed: “No-one would like to keep Dwight more than myself.
“We can all recognise what he gives us on the pitch and the way he conducts himself off the pitch in the local area – he’s brought his family down from Newcastle for the year, he’s brought into everything we want to do.
“Financially, we were prepared to pay the money for Dwight’s contract for this season. It hasn’t worked out (because we didn’t win promotion).
“Dwight’s contract is a Premier League contract and we will pay Premier League contracts, but we’ll only do that once we’re back in the Premier League.
“I know it won’t be the news Albion fans want to hear, but they need to trust us and know we’re doing everything right for this club.
“We don’t want to keep players on big contracts and have to lay the general staff off and make people redundant.
“We want to keep everyone here because we’ve got good people behind the scenes.”
Here’s what Baggies fans have had to say:
@Neilharvey1974: I cannot believe the decision not to sign Gayle. I understand letting others leave but this baffles me. Gayle guaranteed us 20-25 goals next season and was loved by the fans. It’s going to be a hell of a long summer I can tell you. The Hawthorns needs a revolving door.
@ChadDave: We really are a tinpot club & a laughing stock. I'm no mathematician but players' released wages would cover the Gayle wage. Plus let's not forget Rondon's wage when he goes too.
@StigsWBACousin: In my experience there's always more than one answer to a problem. An alternative to Gayle is somewhere out there, like there will be an ideal fit for head coach. Just let the board do their job. The end of next season will judge them.
@HurricanHic147: I remember back in the early 80s when we sold Bryan Robson I was told “Albion have never had any ambition” Goodman was sold in the early 90s for financial gain when the club was on its knees, so this news about Gayle really isn’t a surprise.
@BaggieBail: #WBA I'm sure the money they get for Rondon against what they would have to pay for Gayle would have left enough money to cover his wages for 2 seasons. We are going to take over 45 goals out of the side if we let Rodriguez go aswell. Is that really the best thing for the club?
@ImpactSteve: Less than a week ago The Hawthorns was bouncing and unity and hope were in abundance! This morning #wba show no ambition re Gayle - 15,000 STs should be asking for a refund!
@ShaneoTheBaggie: It's no surprise really that Gayle will not be signing permanently, it was always going to be a "balance to books" season.
@CarloWBA: After the feel good factor and togetherness feeling from Tuesday night. Albion hit us early with the bad news we won't be signing Gayle. Great start.