It's becoming evidently clear that Charlie Austin has little to no future at West Brom.

The 31-year-old has not been named in any of Albion's last five Premier League matchday squads despite an obvious need for a goalscorer, in fact, his only two appearances have come in the Carabao Cup.

Throughout the summer transfer window, the former Southampton striker was linked with an exit, just a year on from joining in a £4m deal.

Only three teams have scored fewer goals than the Baggies in their opening six top-flight fixtures and with the arrival of Karlan Grant on the eve of the domestic deadline earlier in the month, Austin has slipped down the pecking order even more.

He's even been mooted with a January switch to the MLS, according to The Sun (via Tribal Football), after a move to Derby County seemingly fell through.

Given that Austin is on a whopping £50k-per-week at the Hawthorns, which puts him amongst the club's highest earners, he's simply bleeding the club and Guochuan Lai's pockets dry by not being involved whatsoever.

So far, the 6 foot 2 frontman has cost a total of £7.2m with wages and fees considered and with the January window still several months away, that is only going to increase.

Austin bagged only ten times last season, meaning Albion have received a goal for every £720k spent. His numbers aside from scoring weren't pleasant either, averaging just 1.6 shots, 0.8 aerials won and 0.3 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

Former Villa ace Alan Hutton has previously lauded the Englishman as an "excellent player" whilst Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp once He works his socks off and he gets his rewards. Austin was someone who "works his socks off" before comparing him to Alan Shearer.

He's certainly far from that player these days. Baggies sporting and technical director Luke Dowling must do everything to push him out at the turn of the year.

AND in other news, Bilic should unleash his "exceptional" favourite after Lai's latest catastrophe...