Mustapha Carayol's loan move to Albion from Middlesbrough is a win, win, win.
That is a win for both clubs and the player.
Albion, I am assured by well-informed sources in the North-East, are getting a better player than Carayol's Boro predecessor, Emmanuel Ledesma.
Carayol's availability for six of the last seven matches - he cannot play at Boro on the final day - gives manager Chris Hughton the chance to have a good look at a possible candidate for the wing vacancy which has existed ever since the sale of Will Buckley to Sunderland.
'Muzzy', on Albion's radar for some time, has fitness and form to prove after a year out with a knee injury.
He is in discussions with Boro over a contract extension but the Gambian-born South Londoner has not closed the door on the possibility of a permanent move to the Amex.
That is wise amid uncertainty over which division Boro will be playing in next season.
From Boro's perspective, they get game time for a player who would not otherwise have featured immediately in Aitor Karanka's promotion-pushing plans.
Carayol could play a distant role in helping them go up automatically by denting the challenges of rivals, since Albion still have to play Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford at home.Even if Boro miss out on the top two in the congested race to reach the Premier League, he would then become an extra weapon for the play-offs.
Carayol, meanwhile, gets the chance to begin rebuilding his career back closer to home in top class facilities with an improving side against appetising opponents in front of big crowds, while also keeping his options open.
Short-term loans sometimes backfire but the suspicion is that Carayol's switch from Teeside to the Sussex seaside will work out rather better than it did for the rarely used Ledesma.
Original article
That is a win for both clubs and the player.
Albion, I am assured by well-informed sources in the North-East, are getting a better player than Carayol's Boro predecessor, Emmanuel Ledesma.
Carayol's availability for six of the last seven matches - he cannot play at Boro on the final day - gives manager Chris Hughton the chance to have a good look at a possible candidate for the wing vacancy which has existed ever since the sale of Will Buckley to Sunderland.
'Muzzy', on Albion's radar for some time, has fitness and form to prove after a year out with a knee injury.
He is in discussions with Boro over a contract extension but the Gambian-born South Londoner has not closed the door on the possibility of a permanent move to the Amex.
That is wise amid uncertainty over which division Boro will be playing in next season.
From Boro's perspective, they get game time for a player who would not otherwise have featured immediately in Aitor Karanka's promotion-pushing plans.
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Carayol could play a distant role in helping them go up automatically by denting the challenges of rivals, since Albion still have to play Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford at home.Even if Boro miss out on the top two in the congested race to reach the Premier League, he would then become an extra weapon for the play-offs.
Carayol, meanwhile, gets the chance to begin rebuilding his career back closer to home in top class facilities with an improving side against appetising opponents in front of big crowds, while also keeping his options open.
Short-term loans sometimes backfire but the suspicion is that Carayol's switch from Teeside to the Sussex seaside will work out rather better than it did for the rarely used Ledesma.
Original article