Albion are set to pave the way for Luke Steele to continue his FA Cup adventure by clearing the way for the keeper to stay at Barnsley.
The Baggies will give the go-ahead in the next few days for the goalkeeper to extend his loan spell at Oakwell for the rest of the season.
And the former Manchester United trainee will also be freed up to make a permanent switch to the Tykes on a free transfer at the end of the season.
It is understood that Albion will give Barnsley the green light tomorrow to keep Steele, whose initial loan is due to end on Friday.
But the Baggies, who have been contributing significantly towards the 23-year-old’s wages, will insist that the Tykes not foot the entire bill for his services after they bagged more than £1m from their run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Steele is well aware he is not in manager Tony Mowbray’s long-term plans at The Hawthorns and is keen to move on to further his career.
And Albion will allow him to leave for free despite his contract having a year left to run.
The extension of his loan will not, however, change Steele’s availability in the cup.
He will be able to face Cardiff in the semi-final but he would still be barred from facing Albion if the clubs met in the final.
7 Comments
KEEP KEEPER STEEL HE WILL PLAY FOR ENGLAND ONE DAY
Good luck to the lad.
isn’t that just typical of the baggies, to ruin the one good day this lad may have in his career. Pure spite or are they just running scared again !!
Poor show.
3 - you muppet. Its the FA that don’t allow loaned players to play against their parent club.
The stupidity of some people beggars belief.
To let this kid go at the end of the season it mad. He has the talent to make it into the England Team in years to come. Give him a new contract and a good go in the first team. DO NOT LET HIM GO FOR NOTHING OR HE WILL COME BACK AND HAUNT US.
Clearly crazy to let him go for free - I haven’t seen anything from him that would make me believe he’ll come good (can’t control the area), but Barnsley would clearly pay.
Peculiar - really peculiar…We buy an international goalie and don’t play him, and let one go who looks to have more potential than the current encumbent. Only the Baggies can do this.