Valerien Ismael
Matheus Pereira isn’t ‘committed’ to West Brom and won’t be involved at the beginning of the Championship season as the club seek to secure a deal for him to leave. Pereira, Albion’s playmaker, has enjoyed an excellent couple of years at The Hawthorns, has scored 20 goals and produced 23 assists for the club since joining on an initial loan from Sporting Lisbon, but he’s already made it quite clear to those at The Hawthorns that he has no interest in taking part in the Baggies’ impending Championship campaign. The Brazilian, who has three years left on his contract and Albion are willing to sell for the right sum, but at this moment the interested parties in the Premier League and abroad are not close to meeting the asking price. West Ham are understood to be among those clubs who are keen on Pereira, while there is interest too from Al-Hilal. Talks are ongoing, boss Valerien Ismael has confirmed, and the manager hopes for a swift resolution as soon as possible in order to accommodate all parties. In the meantime, Pereira – who has not kicked a ball in pre-season – is biding his time.
Valerien Ismael said: “I have spoken with Matheus for a few weeks. He was clear he wants to leave. He is not committed to the Championship and not committed to us. I said I accept this decision but I have to take my decision and now we need to solve the situation. At the minute we are talking but there is nothing clear. At the minute I am just focused on the guys who are ready to play for West Brom, ready to embrace the fight in the Championship. We need to have players who are motivated to work for each other. I don’t need the best player or the most expensive player. I need the right player with the right mentality.”
One player who Ismael has been quite taken with is young Rayhaan Tulloch. The manager has permitted the forward plenty of minutes in pre-season and he scored with an eye-catching finish in the rout at Blues on Saturday. It’s been a frustrating year or two for Tulloch, who wasn’t granted a real chance in the first-team under Slaven Bilic and then who suffered a season ending injury just a couple of games into his loan at Doncaster Rovers last season. Ismael, though, has made it clear that he has no qualms about utilising Tulloch’s and the club’s other academy talents if he deems them ready and ‘right’ for his system.
Valerian Ismael said: “He had a great pre-season and if we need him, I have no problem playing a young player,” Ismael enthused, when asked about Tulloch. “I need a right player with the right mentality. If he is 18 or 30, it doesn’t matter. For me we need the right player with the right mentality in the right position to be help us be successful. If it is a young player, it will be a young player.”
