Carlos Corberan thankful West Brom rebuffed transfer window offers

The club’s priority this summer was to reduce the wage bill to balance the books while trying, without ownership investment or parachute payments, to help Corberan revitalise the squad.

Albion received several offers for key regulars at varying points of the summer. Stoke approaches for Brandon Thomas-Asante were rebuffed, Alex Palmer turned down a move to Premier League Luton and Coventry were priced out for John Swift, but it is thought the club faced several more approaches from clubs attempting to take advantage of their situation.

“I think when you are in the situation that West Bromwich was in this market, you can protect your players and protect your team or don’t,” Corberan explained.

“To protect the player you need to give the right value to the players, and if other clubs don’t give those values, you need to be strong and protect your club.

“That’s why we have done this market.”

Dara O’Shea’s early summer move from The Hawthorns to Burnley was key to alleviating some pressure on the club and give them a position to negotiate from.

No further sales of key players raises future questions of Albion’s push to manage the finances, something they will likely have to revisit in the January window.

Corberan was unmoved when asked about a line in the sand to work with his squad and said he had to plan with the players that were at his disposal at any given period.

“Now is the moment to keep working with this group of players, but it’s true that, being honest, I was working with this group thinking that I would have these players until the end,” he said.

“If you focus on something different, for me you are making a mistake, so I was preparing for every single game and I am not going to find a massive change right now, from the previous situation.

“What I know is that the Championship this year is different. It’s unpredictable, and you cannot concede any mistake to win football games.”