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According to Turkish outlet Sabah, Slaven Bilic is trying to convince Shinji Kagawa to join West Brom this summer.
If the deal went through it’s safe to say it would be one of the most bizarre of 2019. After all, this is a footballer who has plenty of European pedigree, playing the brunt of his career with Borussia Dortmund in Germany.
Kagawa joined the German club all the way back in 2010 and has since gone onto score 41 Bundesliga goals in 148 matches, as well as assisting 37 strikes.
Coupled with that, he’s won two league titles out in Germany, as well as winning the Premier League in his stint with Manchester United too.
As a result, it would likely take some convincing for him to drop down to the Championship.
The 30-year-old spent a period on loan at Besiktas last term, playing just 14 times but managing four goals in the process.
However, it now appears as though he’s attracting the interest of the Baggies.
A switch involving the pair seems unlikely, so with that in mind, what do the writers at Football FanCast make of it? Check out their thoughts below.
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James Beavis
“Despite the quality Kagawa has shown during his career – spells with Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund prove that – West Brom should not be considering signing him this summer. The 30-year-old may have a wealth of experience and showed glimpses of his brilliance last season – five assists in a 5-0 win against RW Essen and two goals in nine minutes on his debut for Besiktas – but he isn’t a player that strikes you as being ready for a long and arduous season in the Championship.
“It is hard to imagine the Japan international being anything other than a luxury player at this level, rather than somebody who will give absolutely everything over a 46-game campaign, and that isn’t what the Baggies need as they look to return to the Premier League at the second time of asking. All in all, this deal would make even less sense than signing Tyrone Mears – something Albion did last summer – with the experienced 36-year-old only going on to play 381 minutes of league football.”
Charles Jones
“You can’t fault Bilic’s ambition in trying to get this deal done, but it seems a bit unrealistic to me. Kagawa is still good enough to play for a Europa League team, and six goal contributions in just 549 minutes for Besiktas shows that he is still a good player. This is a man who’s spent the bulk of his career at Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United, so stepping down to the Championship at the age of 30 doesn’t seem likely.
“West Brom would likely need to offer him a hefty wage to bring him in, but even then it is a tough sell to get a player of his calibre to drop down to England’s second division. If you don’t ask the question you won’t get an answer, but in this case, I can only imagine the answer being no.”
The fans in the video below had some very strong words for Michel Platini who was detained over alleged corruption this week…
Harry Sherlock
“Kagawa is a bit above West Brom. That’s not to disrespect what Bilic is trying to build but this is a player who was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United. To expect him to rock up at the Hawthorns is a fantasy. He’s 30 and is still on the books at Borussia Dortmund, a genuinely elite European club. Beskitas took him on loan but one cannot expect the Japan international to decide that his future lies in the West Midlands. Bilic can certainly try – there’s no harm in asking the question – but it’s difficult to imagine it actually coming off.”