It’s been revealed that there was quite a battle in terms of who West Bromwich Albion we’re going to take as their left-back in the summer. The position has been a problem at the Hawthorns but boss Tony Pulis and the board wanted to get this one right.
In the end it all is understood to have boiled down to two candidates which were Charlie Taylor, who at the time was playing for Leeds United and Kieran Gibbs, who was at Arsenal.
The Baggies did go all out to get Taylor who, at 23, was one of the most promising young full-backs coming through. He was getting a lot of attention from the bigger clubs after a string of fine performances at Elland Road.
Taylor’s contract was due to expire so there would be a problem in regards to a fee as club’s who nurture homegrown players aged 23 or below are eligible for compensation and that is normally settled by way of a tribunal.
This would eventually turn off West Brom as they are wary that any compensation package could become more than what they were wanting to pay so they walked away from the deal and decided to look for a different option.
Burnley would eventually pick up Taylor for a fee believed to be in the region of £6million.
“It was a tough decision in the end to leave, but one I had to make,” Taylor on signing in at Turf Moor.
“The competition here is huge. I watched Burnley a lot last season and they were very impressive with their home form.”
Albion decided to go with Kieran Gibbs from the Gunners for around £5m and his consistency and cool head drew praise recently from the then Baggies manager Tony Pulis.
“He’s done very well, we’re pleased to get him for what we paid in the end.
“We’re hoping that over the next few years he’ll be a great asset for this club.”