Sunday 7 September 2014 12:36, UK
West Brom head coach Alan Irvine is confident Claudio Yacob will be fully focused on his role with the club after a summer of speculation over his future.
The 27-year-old Argentine midfielder was reportedly on the radar of several foreign clubs during the summer transfer window.
The speculation unsettled Yacob but Irvine has held talks with the player and is confident he will be committed to the Baggies’ cause.
“We had a very casual chat about it and he just said, ‘Look, I know I’ve been unsettled and my head has been unsure what’s happening, but now I’m completely focused and I can just get on with being the best I can be’,” said Irvine.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s been no problem on the training ground. He has been a perfect professional, but he’s had a bit of his mind wondering whether he’s going to be here or not, and that is unsettling.
“Claudio and his wife have also just had a baby over the summer so I’m guessing he’s been going home from here and his wife’s been saying ‘What’s happening, what do I need to do about the baby and where are we going?’.
“The mental side of any top-level sport is incredibly important.”
Defender Craig Dawson was also the subject of transfer interest, with Burnley making an offer for his services.
The bid was turned down, and Irvine hopes Yacob will regain his focus in the same way Dawson has after accepting his future lay at The Hawthorns.
“We saw it with Craig at the start of pre-season,” said Irvine. “He was unsettled and expecting to move away and it was only after he realised he wasn’t going anywhere that he was able to settle mentally.
“There is so much on the mental side that affects players’ performances and I think ‘Daws’ wasn’t what I knew he could be during a number of games in pre-season.
“Ever since he got his head around the fact he would be here and involved in the team and that we wanted him here and weren’t interested in him going anywhere else, he has been what I expected him to be.
“I’m sure that will be the case now with Claudio. He’s a really important player for us but with the circumstances he probably hasn’t showed that. This is now his opportunity to show it.
“He knows and I know that he’s not performed at the levels he is capable of and he’s not made it difficult for me to leave him out and really, with his ability, he should be giving me a selection problem.
“I would expect to see Claudio becoming more like his real self again.”
