West Brom manager Tony Pulis is planning to execute a double swoop to sign English pair Chris Smalling and Phil Jones from Manchester United.
According to a report by The Mirror, West Brom are interested in signing English defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones from Manchester United to boost their back line this summer.
The West Brom boss was successful in previously signing Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans from the Old Trafford side and it looks like he is back for the services of two centre-halves Smalling and Jones. Both players have two years left on their contracts and have been struggling to play enough under Jose Mourinho.
Smalling was injured for large parts of last season and even became the recipient of a public scrutiny from the Portuguese boss. He recorded 35 appearances but failed to make much of an impression.
Jones, on the other hand, received a massive backlash from the fans in September last year due to his ever-increasing injury woes.
Both players have endured inconsistent campaigns and West Brom should not face any trouble in landing the deal since Jose Mourinho is in the middle of a major re-building session for the squad and he will be looking to get rid of all the weak links.
Pulis has been looking to sign two more centre-halves after letting Jonas Olsson leave in March. Gareth McAuley will turn 38 in December and they will need younger talent to hold up the fort or at least act as alternatives in the events of injuries.
However, considering how injury-prone both these players are, it does seem a bit odd that Pulis would be keen on signing both of them. There is no doubting their talent or skill but they are bound to be quite rusty since they have hardly played many 90-minute games anytime recently.
Staying back at Manchester United is definitely not an option for either of them especially after the arrival of Sweden international Victor Lindelof from Benfica last month. He is likely to be a strong partner for Eric Bailly.
The move to West Brom does not seem like a bad option for the duo since they can play at the back together and Phil Jones can be versatile when in form. Having said that, they will have to pull up their socks and find a way to battle their injury troubles if they are to join West Brom this summer.