“The brutal reality” – 30-year-old’s future at West Brom: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Tom Rogic has endured a bit of a stop-start first campaign at West Bromwich Albion and has not been seen in league action since late January.

The 30-year-old’s ability has been clear to see in some of the sumptuous goal contributions that he has come up with, but, as has been the case in the last few seasons, injuries have stunted his progress in the first team.

The Baggies are approaching a crossroads with Rogic’s deal at The Hawthorns up in the summer and his future debate may split the supporter base somewhat.

We gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe the club should offer him a new deal…

Billy Mulley

I think it is too early to conclusively say whether or not Tom Rogic should be awarded a new West Brom contract in the summer.

It has been a mixed season thus far for the former Celtic midfielder, with his latest injury issue not helping his progression at all.

A player with evident quality, you feel that if he can get an extended run of games in the side that he would be able to thrive.

Ultimately, Rogic’s WBA future will be decided by how he can perform during the final quarter of this Championship campaign.

Promotion to the Premier League remains a possibility too, which would likely have a massive impact on what his future holds.

Adam Jones

You have to feel for the Australian because he’s a real talent and showcased that away at Sunderland this season.

However, he faces a lot of competition for a starting spot in midfield and with that, Albion should only be looking to offer him a reasonably modest salary if they did want to retain him.

Whether they should keep him also depends on his fitness from now until the end of the season – because he has spent time out of action.

It’s just frustrating because he could be a real asset for Albion – so you could argue that it would be worth offering him a contract.

They shouldn’t be prepared to fork out too much on wages though – and if him staying means plenty of others can’t come in – they should think about letting him go because Carlos Corberan deserves the chance to put his stamp on the squad.

Marcus Ally

He has started four league games so far, there is no way you can offer someone a new deal of the back of that, at 30 years old, unless Rogic improves his availability.

None of that is necessarily his fault but that is the brutal reality of football and offering the Aussie a new deal to see him involved a similar amount next season would be bad business.

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Rogic clearly has the talent to be a reliable attacking midfielder in the second tier, but in terms of the Baggies looking for a return on their investment they have very little so far.

The final decision should be left to Corberan, but if Rogic does not prove his durability in the second tier before the end of the season it is hard to make a case for him being offered an extension.