Express & Star

West Brom turn down loan deals for Sam Field from several Championship clubs

Albion have turned down offers from several Championship clubs to take Sam Field on loan until the end of the season.

Published
Last updated
Sam Field in action for Albion in the FA Cup third round at Exeter. (AMA)

Barnsley, Derby County, Norwich and Sunderland have all made enquiries about the 19-year-old midfielder this month.

But the Baggies have rejected all advances so far because boss Alan Pardew wants to keep the teenager in his first-team squad.

Field has made six appearances in the Premier League this season and has impressed when called upon, scoring in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United at The Hawthorns in November.

He started the first two games of Pardew’s reign but hasn’t been seen in the league since.

Pardew tried to fit Field into his team on the left wing but the youngster was more suited to the middle and lost his place to Chris Brunt.

Albion’s head coach has now settled on Gareth Barry and Grzegorz Krychowiak as his preferred central midfield partnership, with England international Jake Livermore next in line.

The Baggies also have Claudio Yacob in central midfield, but Field was placed on the bench instead of the Argentinian away at Everton.

Last month, Pardew told all his young players: “Unfortunately for you guys the club is in a position where your personal development might have to go to one side for five months.

“Not completely, because we’re going to develop them here, but in terms of going out on loan. The club comes first, and they understood that. We need all hands to the pumps here.”

Field was also restricted from going out on loan in the summer, when Tony Pulis wanted to keep him behind.

He played the first two games of the season but was then shunted down the pecking order following the late arrival of Krychowiak.

Barry has been one of the team’s most consistent performers recently, and the veteran midfielder insists that spirits are high after a three-match unbeaten run.

“Good results obviously help the mood around the camp,” he said. “The spirit here is good and you can tell that just being around the group and the training ground.

“We are unbeaten in three games now and that’s important because we can build our confidence from our recent results. It was crucial that we got our win at Exeter and we managed to do that.

“We then took that into the Brighton game and took three points and I thought we were unlucky not to win against Everton.”

Albion are back in Liverpool this weekend when they visit Anfield in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

“It’s a one-off game in the FA Cup and anything can happen,” said Barry. “We are going into the game on the back of three good performances and three good results, so we will go there full of confidence and with no fear.

“We got a positive result there in the Premier League back in December so we can also take confidence from that.”