West Brom: Jonathan Panzo could be a Pieters upgrade
The Baggies have been linked with a swoop for the Premier League defender.
West Bromwich Albion have been fairly quiet throughout the summer transfer window as they have only added two new players to their squad to date.
Who have West Brom signed this summer?
Carlos Corberan secured his first signing of the off-season by snapping up Jeremy Sermiento on a season-long loan from Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
Former Sunderland centre-forward Josh Maja then arrived on a free transfer from Ligue 2 outfit Bordeaux to bolster the club’s attacking options.
They could dip back into the market to make further improvements to their roster before next month’s deadline, though, as they were touted with interest in Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo earlier this month.
The former Monaco prospect spent last season on loan at Coventry City and has reportedly been valued at £2.5m by Steve Cooper’s team.
How good is Jonathan Panzo?
Panzo is a proven Championship performer whose displays at this level last season suggest that he would come in as a big upgrade on Erik Pieters if Corberan can secure his signature.
The 22-year-old enforcer would be a perfect fit for the left-sided centre-back role in a back three as he is proficient at playing centre-back and left-back, whilst he also played as part of a back three at Coventry.
He averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.99 for the Sky Blues across 29 league appearances and caught the eye with his strength in the wide central defensive position.
Panzo, who was once hailed as being “outstanding” by his former Coventry boss Mark Robins, made 3.3 tackles and interceptions combined per match and won 58% of his duels, as per Sofascore, which shows that the English titan came out on top in the majority of his physical contests.
Meanwhile, no West Brom defender managed more than 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game and Pieters produced two per outing to go along with a duel success rate of 57% last season in the Championship.
This suggests that Panzo would provide more quality in defence due to his ability to cut out opposition attacks more frequently with key defensive interventions, which could create more counter-attacking opportunities for the likes of Jed Wallace, Maja, and John Swift to exploit.
Pieters, who has started on the left of a back three in two of the club’s three competitive matches this term, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.82 across 36 league matches for the Baggies during the 2022/23 campaign.
The Dutch defender ranked 12th within the squad for his rating, whereas Panzo’s score of 6.99 would have placed him fifth. This shows that the £2.5m-rated ace would also be an upgrade on the 35-year-old battler in terms of his average performance level.
At the age of 22, the Forest titan would also come in with the potential to grow and develop under Corberan. He has plenty of time on his hands to improve, as he is 13 years younger than Pieters, and would, therefore, be an excellent signing for the long-term as well as a player who can immediately be an asset to the side.
The Baggies head coach must now push to get a deal over the line for the young talent before the end of the window in order to land an upgrade for his defence.