Journalist Luke Hatfield thinks the outcome of the recent Nathan Ferguson tribunal could affect West Brom's transfer plans for January.
Ferguson left the Hawthorns back in July 2020 to join Crystal Palace, but the final transfer fee for the player was only decided earlier this month.
What happened in the Nathan Ferguson tribunal?
Ferguson is yet to play for Crystal Palace after having a torrid time with injuries over the past 18 months.
Still, when he departed West Brom, he was a highly-rated teenager, and the Baggies would have hoped to get a sizeable transfer fee for him.
They received very disappointing news at the start of November, though, when it was announced that Palace would only have to pay them £900,000 for the defender.
What has Hatfield said about the decision?
Hatfield has admitted that the decision will be a bitter pill to swallow for West Brom, and he has suggested that it could have an impact on how much money the club spends in the next transfer window.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “For Albion, it’s a big blow, because they would have hoped for a ballpark figure of maybe £5-£6m for him, which would have obviously helped them in January. It would have been a massive boost for them in terms of the coffers, and they’ve not got that.”
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How costly could the Ferguson tribunal decision be for West Brom?
West Brom did not spend any money in the summer transfer window, as they brought in players on free transfers and temporary deals instead.
It does not seem to have affected the club too much, though, as they are still firmly in the hunt for promotion back to the Premier League.
Still, the top two of Bournemouth and Fulham look very strong right now, and West Brom may have seen January as their opportunity to dip into the transfer market to buy players who could help them topple their rivals in the second half of the season.
However, that may no longer be an option, as they have received much less money from the Ferguson transfer than they would have been anticipating.
As a result, it could be difficult for them to close the gap to the automatic promotion places without having as much money to spend, so that Ferguson tribunal verdict could end up impacting West Brom's chances of getting back into the top-flight at the first time of asking.
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