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Nathan Ferguson reaffirms his desire to leave West Brom

Nathan Ferguson will undergo exploratory surgery on the knee injury that scuppered his move to Palace – but the player's representatives have again made it clear the defender wants to leave Albion.

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Albion's Nathan Ferguson

Ferguson had been all set to move to London on deadline day after Palace agreed to pay £11million for the defender with a further one million in add-ons.

That fee had to be re-negotiated after Palace initially agreed to a deal that would have seen Ferguson rejoin the Baggies on loan.

That agreement would have seen the Premier League side pay £10million up front for the defender with £2million in add-ons.

But Ferguson was not interested in returning to The Hawthorns on loan.

The move, though, then completely collapsed when Palace tried to re-negotiate the deal after picking up a problem with Ferguson's knee during a medical.

The two clubs disagreed on the severity of the problem and were then unable to agree a transfer fee.

Ferguson will now undergo exploratory surgery to determine the extent of the problem next week.

But Albion's sporting and technical director Luke Dowling says the player's agent has again made it clear his client wants to leave.

"The discussions we’ve had with his representatives since deadline day suggest that he’ll still leave us at the end of the season," he said.

"The potential of him staying here hasn't even been talked about.

"So if we can get a deal agreed between now and the end of the season, then we’ll do that.

"If not, then whoever does take him, it’ll go to a tribunal."

Despite the speculation surrounding his future, Dowling said Albion have had no problems with Ferguson's attitude or application over the past few months.

The club, though, has found it hard to meet with and hold discussions with his representatives.

And Dowling feels the Baggies have done absolutely everything they can to keep Ferguson at the club.

"We couldn’t have done any more," he continued.

"Contract wise, we’ve made two or three offers to him.

"For us, the size of the contract we’ve offered and the opportunity we’ve given him on the pitch, we’ve done everything we can."

In terms of Ferguson's knee, the technical director also outlined the exact procedure Ferguson will undergo next week.

"The initial surgery will be to find out how big the issue is, and once the surgeons operate on the knee they’ll know what to do," he added.

"It might be a tidy up, it might need repairing, but that’ll be down to the surgeon to decide that.

"Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of it, find out the exact problem that he’s got and hopefully if not before the end of the season then certainly next pre-season he’ll be back up and running."