West Brom pursue Ehiogu loan deal
West Brom are now attempting to sign Ugo Ehiogu on loan for the remainder of the season after it emerged the Middlesbrough defender still has 18 months of his contract remaining.
Baggies manager Bryan Robson, who bought Ehiogu for a then club record £8m in 2000 when Boro manager, will then consider the possibility of signing the 33-year-old on a permanent basis in the summer.
It was originally thought Ehiogu’s lucrative deal with Boro ran out at the end of the current campaign but emerged during negotiations that he is contracted to them until the end of the 2006-2007 campaign.
That has caused a rethink regarding Ehiogu’s personal terms and a compromise deal is likely to be struck with Ehiogu coming to The Hawthorns for the second half of this season before the situation is reviewed.
Robson would like to snap up Ehiogu full-time and is keeping his fingers crossed the player will eventually revert back permanently to the club where he began his career in the late 1980s before moving to Aston Villa in 1991.
Any sort of deal looked to have collapsed after an ankle injuy to Gareth Southgate left Ehiogu required by Steve McClaren but the Boro skipper’s setback is not as serious as first feared.
Albion are also expected to tie up another deal which will mean Slovakian midfielder Jan Kzak moving to Albion for the remainder of the season.
The 25-year-old Artmedia Bratislava player has impressed Robson during a trial period with Albion for the past few days.
Robson is still interested in signing another Boro player in striker Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink while West Brom have had no concrete offers for unsettled striker Robert Earnshaw who has had two transfer requests rejected.
