West Brom announce Valerien Ismael as successor to Sam Allardyce

West Brom announce Valerien Ismael as successor to Sam Allardyce with Frenchman signing four-year deal at the Hawthorns after £2m compensation package was agreed with fellow Championship side Barnsley

  • A compensation deal worth £2m was agreed between West Brom and Barnsley 
  • The 45-year-old Frenchman impressed in the Championship last season 
  • His appointment ends a drawn-out process to find Sam Allardyce’s successor
  • The Baggies are seeking immediate promotion back to the Premier League 

West Brom have finally ended their search for a manager by paying £2million to secure Valerien Ismael from Barnsley.

Albion had been without a boss since Sam Allardyce departed at the end of last season following relegation from the Premier League, with failed moves for Chris Wilder and David Wagner leading to the departure of technical director Luke Dowling.

The club had initially been reluctant to pay compensation for a new boss but decided to stump up the cash to secure Ismael, who led Barnsley to the play-offs last season. He has signed a four-year deal.

West Brom have announced that they have appointed Valerien Ismael as their new head coach

The 45-year-old has signed a four-year deal at the club to succeed Sam Allardyce (centre)

Ismael is due to meet his players for the first time in early July, once he has returned to the UK and served quarantine, and will be expected to mount a serious promotion bid. Though goalkeeper Sam Johnstone – currently with England’s Euro 2020 squad – and playmaker Matheus Pereira may be sold, the bulk of the squad is expected to remain at The Hawthorns.

Chief executive Xu Ke, known throughout the club as Ken, said: ‘I am confident that by working together we will be able to achieve our goal of returning to the Premier League, but success is earned by building on strong foundations, and our plans must now look further into the future. 

‘For too long we have focused only on what is immediately in front of us. This means we have often neglected our long-term aspirations.


It ends a drawn-out process which saw chiefs both consider David Wagner (L) and Chris Wilder

Ismael’s immediate challenge is to gather a squad capable of returning back to the top flight

‘We are all aware of what will be required in order to be successful and player recruitment will be of the utmost importance. 

‘Valérien and I will immediately focus on preparing the squad for the new season, working together with Ian Pearce, our Head of Recruitment, to secure talented transfer targets who will strengthen us for the challenges ahead, ensuring fans are once more proud to support this great club.’

Wilder looked nailed on to succeed Allardyce but his appointment was blocked by owner Guochuan Lai, before Wagner – who took Huddersfield into the top flight in 2017 – rejected Albion in favour of Swiss club Young Boys.




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