West Brom move looks best for Man City’s Scott Sinclair
Published:After an underwhelming first season at Manchester City, winger Scott Sinclair could be set to resume his wanderings down the highways and byways of English football, with Newcastle, Everton and West Brom all interested in offering him a way out of the Etihad.
Sinclair found opportunities limited under Roberto Mancini last term, as City’s tactical permutations usually preferred less direct-running wide midfielders like David Silva or James Milner.
The Manchester club are the 10th team that Sinclair has plied his trade for during his career and it seems that the 24-year-old has been a victim of his own wanderlust on his footballing journey so far.
His spell at Swansea City was the exception to that rule, with their white shirt the only one he has yet pulled on for more than 20 league appearances. It’s perhaps no coincidence that his spell in South Wales produced the best football of his career and he may have come to rue the impulse which bade him join the 2011/12 champions last summer.
With the arrival of Jesus Navas shuffling him further back down the queue for a first team slot at City, now most certainly looks the time for him to search for stability and a regular starting berth at a new club.
Of his three suitors Newcastle are arguably the least attractive, with the club once again pulling in many different directions thanks to the appointment of director of football Joe Kinnear.
Everton and West Brom are more intriguing avenues for the former Chelsea trainee, neither having squads that are precisely chock-full of wingers.
Roberto Martinez favoured the kind of front three that Sinclair thrived in at Swansea during his time at Wigan, although even with Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar playing in the middle band of a 4-3-3, he would still likely find himself behind Arouna Kone and Kevin Mirallas in his manager’s thoughts.
That leaves West Brom and the Hawthorns may offer the player the best chance of the regular starts he needs to get back where he was at Swansea.
Romelu Lukaku has returned to Chelsea and Peter Odemwingie is surely on his way out of the club after his January window subterfuge. With Graham Dorrans most often occupying a right-sided role for the club last term, Steve Clarke has a pressing need for a player of Sinclair’s style.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
