Lewis Cox on Mikey Johnston, the finances & West Brom's top late move

Express & Star

Lewis Cox sat down with Jonny Drury to discuss the signing of winger Mikey Johnston. The winger, who had a blistering loan spell at the club last season, looked to be heading to Sheffield United. But Burnley and Albion entered the frame, with the Baggies coming out on top and Johnston agreeing to return to The Hawthorns. Lewis and Jonny talk about the statement of the move, the finances and why it works for Albion.

Transcript

00:00Hello, welcome to Expressenstar.com for this West Bromwich Albion update alongside Mr.

00:12Lewis Cox after the stunning news last night and stunning confirmation this morning from

00:19our very own Lewis Cox that Mikey Johnson, the magic man, is returning to West Brom.

00:25He's undergoing a medical this morning at Albion ahead of a £3m move back to the Hawthorns

00:35on a long-term contract. The man who lit up the Hawthorns last season, it looked impossible

00:40to bring him back, but given the outgoings this summer and the financial work that has

00:44been done by the new owners, Albion are bringing last season's lone star back.

00:49Coxy, the man who broke the exclusive last night, we sort of knew about this sort of

00:54middle of the day yesterday and were sort of waiting for it to be sort of sourced.

00:59We had to be coy on the podcast, didn't we, Jonny?

01:02We did, we kind of did. A little bit of an inside. We knew on the podcast. Coxy even

01:06spoke about how good Mikey Johnson could be for Shelley United on the podcast yesterday.

01:11I was extremely clear to make known my admiration for him and how good I thought he was and

01:21is, but yeah, he isn't and was never going to Bramall Lane.

01:26No, he's going back to the Hawthorns. But Coxy, Albion, it looked like the business

01:32was almost done. It was going to be a striker. As it is, it's a left winger, but what a left

01:36winger and, you know, what a way to, if this is the end of the transfer window, what a

01:40way to end the transfer window for Albion.

01:42Yeah, we expect it to be the end of the transfer window, Jonny. That's not an absolute definite,

01:48but the club envisage as it stands with Mikey through the door, no more additions. The way

01:54that could change is if there's a major, you know, senior departure, which again, the club

02:00don't foresee, they don't anticipate, they, you know, obviously we know what's gone on

02:05the last few days. They don't want to engage in any possible interest in Tom Fellows. They're

02:09not looking to sell him. We reported last night that the Tom Fellows, you know, interest

02:15talk rumor is totally separate from Johnson and that being financed. So yeah, I suppose

02:21the good news, if we can call it good news, selfishly, is that deadline day tomorrow could

02:26be a little quiet, Jonny, which is never a bad thing if the business is done to not leave

02:31things to the last day. But yeah, what a, what a deal for Albion. I mean, I couldn't

02:37be more of a fan of Johnson, really what he did. We'll get into it more, but you know,

02:44the first weeks of his loan, but really for me, the whole loan, what he showed throughout,

02:49you know, he was so committed for a loan. The relationship he had with Carlos was massive

02:55and that's why there's been a chance of this. This is, you know, without Carlos Corcoran,

02:59this doesn't happen. Mikey Johnson towards the end of the season into the playoffs, certainly

03:06played through the pain barrier where he was struggling in training with issues and kept

03:11going. He scored, what did he score? Six and six, seven and seven. Some are crazy worldies

03:18every week. I think we said at the time, didn't we look, Mikey Johnson isn't going to carry

03:23on at this rate. It's not going to be 12 and 12, 13 and 13, 14, 14. He's a winger. So this

03:28idea that like the lone tail, the way I just don't buy at all. I mean, you were at Hillsborough

03:35with me, Johnny, at the end of last season when it was terrible. But Mikey Johnson turned

03:39up that day. He was the only one in Albion colours, dragging the team up the pitch, beating

03:44players. Yeah, I just don't huge fan of his. And yeah, I mean, there's been all summer.

03:57It was clear that Celtic wanted to ideally sell Johnson, academy graduate for a long

04:02time ago, had a great loan now to up his value interest from the continent, really. And certainly

04:09strong championship interest. You know, we know about Sheffield United and obviously

04:12Burnley who were both desperate. But Albion have been able to make it work, make the finances

04:18work, the personal relationships they've been able to use to get it done. And yeah, as we

04:23record just after 10 o'clock this morning, the medicals going on as we speak. No issues

04:29there. Although I do gather Mikey badly injured his eye last week. I think possibly did his

04:34eye socket in training or playing for Celtic. So we could even see him in a mask, possibly.

04:41No, like a Zorro style second debut for the magic man. But we'll see on that. And again,

04:48whether formalities and confirmation of today, if there's no hiccups, I don't see. I don't

04:53see why not. So hopefully we'll get that today. And we've got a press conference with Carlos

04:57in the morning to ask all things about that. And it's just mass massive news for fans,

05:01isn't it? They're rightly delighted by this. Albion's biggest deal of the summer,

05:0710th new recruit this summer, the final recruit this summer as it stands. By some way,

05:13the biggest outlay in terms of a transfer fee, you know, that three million fee is something

05:17that I think really made everyone, I suppose, who follows and connected with Albion sit up

05:22and take notes and think, wow, you know, that's that's a serious backing of the head coach.

05:26That's serious work by the ownership. Obviously, they'll have done it. You know, there's no way

05:33the club will be put in any sort of FFP risk with this. You know, there's no PSR issues as

05:39the deal wouldn't have happened. You know, the the EFL wouldn't have allowed it to start with.

05:45And Bilco wouldn't have sanctioned it. So, you know, it's it's an incredible deal for Albion

05:52and very excited by it, as I'm sure most are, if not all. Yeah, no, they are. In terms of,

05:59you know, we've had a lot of tweets in the last 12 hours, 24 hours, about 12 hours really since

06:05the news came out or since we broke the news saying, you know, we need a striker. We don't

06:10need a winger. It's a good signing, but needed a striker. You know, we've we talked about this

06:17off pod. If Albion don't bring in a striker between now and the end of the window, which

06:21is unlikely, really, because unlikely to happen given this deal's gone through.

06:27You know, you look at the backup options. Now, obviously, Grant is a striker. Carlos kind of

06:32doesn't, but he can fit into the role of a backup striker. Jed Wallace plays up front and did do

06:38successfully, you know, towards the end of last season or the second half of last season.

06:43You've got Maggia. I think Mo Favre probably stayed in the building now, potentially.

06:48Well, Devante Cole, Johnny.

06:49Devante Cole as well. And you've got Lewis Dobbin, who can play up front and did play up front on his

06:55home debut and has been utilised as a striker before. So, there are options there. You were

07:01preferring...

07:01DK, Johnny, obviously, or DK.

07:04DK as well is sort of a different conversation in terms of his injury, but he will be back,

07:09you know, in the not-too-distant future. But the options are there. So, I think, you know,

07:15if you would have offered us Mikey Johnson for £3 million or a, I don't know, lower-end

07:21challenging striker, you'd have taken Mikey Johnson over Simon Stryker any day of the week.

07:26Yeah. Yeah, I think, just quickly, there's a chance Falford still go out,

07:30so I gather, but you're right, if the club were really bothered or worried about that depth and

07:35competition, you know, he's an option that could stay around, isn't it? But, you know, the likelihood

07:39is he wouldn't be in the matchday 20. So, kind of, what's the point? Yeah, all of those names

07:45you mentioned, absolutely, you know, if needed, can do a job, you know. Hopefully, ideally not.

07:50You know, obviously, there's a lot of, you know, unknowns, I suppose, with Josh Maggia and him

07:57staying fit, yeah, after last season, but that's the hope. The expectation is he's, sort of,

08:02come back from last season strong and look how he started the season. Obviously, Cole's come in as

08:08competition depth, you know, not exactly proven at this level by any stretch, but he's someone

08:12that can clearly do a job if required as a body. And you've mentioned, everyone else, Johnny,

08:17there, that the wider players who can go in there, I mean, Grady's played, I know Grady's injured

08:21with the shoulder, but he's played a full nine, hasn't he, at times. None of these are ideals,

08:26but they're options, you know. And Dal Dike is ahead of schedule, which is very promising. I

08:32think set to join in some sort of team training within the month, really, which is, you know,

08:38say by the end of this time next month, October, which is great going. And I know, you know,

08:43absolutely, there can be no relying on Dike. I get that with his situation, but when he comes

08:49back and if he stays fit, and that's a big if, then certainly a body and potentially a fine

08:55option on Albion's hands, isn't it? So, yeah, you're right. And things aren't always that sort

08:59of cut and dry, are they? Just because, you know, the club made three million work to sign Johnson,

09:04to match Burnley's bid and to get it done, does not necessarily mean that that three million would

09:10have been there to go on the striker, you know, because that right striker profile might not be

09:16out there for that money when, okay, if he comes in, what about Madger? You know, does the two

09:22million striker start over Madger or not type thing. So, you're right, Johnny, that the calibre

09:28profile of the striker could have been, you know, a Premier League loan. I mean, there's been one or

09:34two wild names linked over the last 24 hours. I don't know. It could be a young player who's a bit

09:39of an unknown. That wouldn't have been ideal, would it? I don't think in my eyes. And yeah,

09:44an Asante replacement was always obviously kind of on the head coach's radar, and that's what he

09:49said to us. But he always, I think I said on the podcast yesterday, Johnny, well, I certainly said

09:54that we understood a wide player was an option, but Corbijn always kind of was coy and leaving

10:01the door open and saying, look, let's see what the market can allow us to do type thing about

10:05other positions. And obviously now it's clear that he was referring to wide position with Johnson.

10:11And once he was available for Albin to act on and the finances worked, then there was only one

10:17decision for Corbijn, and that was to bring the Republic of Ireland international back in.

10:23Let's say a four-year deal, a real home for him now. He's only ever known Celtic, hasn't he,

10:28in terms of academy, graduate, knows the club, obviously knows the head coach, knows the fans,

10:34training ground. Everything should be seamless. You know, that's the hope. And it's going to be

10:38fascinating, isn't it? You know, we've already had debates about Wallace. Obviously, Grady's picked

10:43up the injury, but Dobbin is a natural left-sided player. So we know our fellows have started the

10:48season on the other flank. It's suddenly become a very, very exciting, the exciting, exciting

10:57flair, creative line, that sort of front line behind the centre forward for Albin.

11:01And I'm really looking forward to seeing it in action. And it'll be lovely if you can get a sort

11:05of home reception, home bow, won't it, on Saturday against Swansea. I mean, I'm not ruling out,

11:12assuming it's confirmed today and in time, a start, but maybe from the benches more likely,

11:16I don't know. But yeah, it's been a great deal for the club. This is a huge coup

11:24statement, isn't it? Even a PR statement that they've been able to make it work and beating

11:29serious rivals to the jump on it. You know, Burnley were very, you know, fought hard for him,

11:34as did Sheffield United. You know, Scott Parker was really, really keen to get him in and

11:39you know, credit Albin for beating off that kind of competition, you know, because the likes of

11:45Burnley, you look at them and think they're surely almost borderline guaranteed to be

11:50fighting those automatic spots, aren't they? And here are Albin making their case.

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