West Bromwich Albion could struggle to sell a number of their unwanted players in the summer transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Joseph Masi, with the Express & Star journalist stating his belief in a recent video that, with Albion having handed out a number of long-term deals earlier this season, Steve Bruce - or whoever West Brom's manager happens to be this summer - may struggle to revamp the Baggies first-team squad ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Speaking about Albion's plans for the summer, Masi said: "The contracts thing is a real worry; Karlan Grant, Callum Robinson, Kyle Bartley, Jake Livermore, Matt Phillips, Darnell Furlong – they're all on long deals.

"I'm not saying those players all need to leave, but if you want to refresh this group – which, let's be honest, any manager probably would – they're all on long-term deals, can Albion offload them? After this season, it's going to be very, very unlikely."

Fans will be seething

Following the 2-0 loss to Swansea City on Monday night, West Brom find themselves languishing down in 13th place in the Championship standings - eight points behind Luton Town in sixth, having played a game more than the Hatters.

Indeed, even the most optimistic of Albion fans would struggle to make a compelling argument that, with 12 league fixtures left to play, West Brom still have a chance of securing promotion back to the Premier League this season.

As such, with the Baggies paying out a reported £18.5m-per-year in salaries, with another year in the second tier looking incredibly likely, this wage bill will undoubtedly need to be trimmed rather dramatically.

However, with Grant earning £20k-per-week until the summer of 2026, Robinson on £18k-per-week until 2025, Bartley earning £15k-per-week until 2023, Livermore on £16k-per-week until 2023, Phillips taking home £12k-per-week until 2024, Furlong on £15k-per-week until 2025 and Kenneth Zohore earning £26k-per-week until 2023, it would indeed appear unlikely that Albion will be able to shift many - if any - of these players come the end of the season.

If this does turn out to be the case, not only will the manager find it an extremely difficult task to refresh his West Brom side this summer, but the club will also be burdened with what is essentially a Premier League wage bill without the windfall of cash that comes with playing in the top flight - something that, considering this is a mess of the Baggies' own making, is sure to have left fans seething.

In other news: Bruce can finally axe £14k-p/w "Rolls-Royce" as WBA plot offer for £20k-p/w "beast"