West Brom and Scotland have a great battle between wingers Oliver Burke and Matt Phillips for many years to come.
Burke is a 21-year-old just breaking onto the scene, while Phillips is a much more established player.
With that in mind, let’s compare these two transfers…
Oliver Burke
At such a young age, Burke already has a fair bit of Premier League and international experience with West Brom and Scotland respectively.
After joining from RB Leipzig in August 2017 for £13m, he was part of West Brom’s lacklustre Premier League campaign, which saw them get relegated. However, this season under manager Darren Moore, he has been limited to League Cup matches and occasional appearances from the bench.
He is yet to feature for his country’s first team since moving from the German club, and is in a period of trying to get his career back on track. Nonetheless, he still shows a lot of promise.
TT Grade: B
Matt Phillips
The Baggies signed Phillips from QPR in 2016 for £5.5m, in what was a good piece of business. Since then he has gone from strength to strength in England and Scotland.
He has been ever present for West Brom, and the club did very well to keep hold of him after getting relegated. He has been a mainstay in the Championship side under Moore this season, being one of the best performers in the league, and is in the current Scotland squad as well. At the age of 27 as well, there are many good years to come from Phillips for both club and country.
TT Grade: A
TT Verdict:
Although Burke is younger than Phillips, the 27-year-old wins this battle in almost all other aspects.
Not only was Phillips a much cheaper deal for The Baggies, but he continues to be a high performer for them. Obviously, at the age of 21, Burke has a huge future ahead of him and he isn’t being written off. But he may struggle to emulate his teammate, and that is why Phillips wins this battle.
