West Bromwich Albion completed a highly-demanded permanent deal with Celtic to bring former loan star Mikey Johnston back to The Hawthorns this summer.
The Baggies agreed a deal with the Glasgow Giants which was understood to be £3m, with his permanent arrival being met with much excitement from Albion supporters.
Johnston enjoyed a highly fruitful loan spell with the club in the second half of last season, scoring seven goals and notching two assists in just 20 Championship appearances.
But what sort of contract have West Brom handed the winger this summer? Football League World investigates…
Johnston’s weekly West Brom wage
With more money flying around the Championship than there ever has been before in the form of transfer fees, player wages, various revenue streams and that of owners, second tier players are commonly being handed eye-watering contracts.
As such, the importance of being shrewd when it comes to player salaries for those clubs whose purse strings are tied slightly tighter than others, is incredibly important.
With West Brom’s parachute payments ending last year, and with the club being placed under an EFL-imposed business plan to limit their transfer activity in August, the need for Albion to get clever when it comes to managing their finances has been made evidently clear.
The permanent signing of Johnston this summer was a hugely popular one given the impact he had from his brief loan spell in the second half of last season, but how sizeable is the contract the Baggies have handed to the winger?
Using Capology, – whose figures in this case must be stressed as being estimates – they detail that Johnston is earning an estimated weekly wage of £12,500, which totals as £650,000 per year.
Given how important he was to Albion last season, and with his best years still potentially ahead of him being only 25, if that figure is correct, then you’d have to say that West Brom have done some very good business here.
When you consider that Capology have Mason Holgate as being the club’s top-earner on £70,000 per week, whilst the likes of Grady Diangana, Jed Wallace and Daryl Dike are listed as earning between £20-32,000 per week, Johnston’s salary appears to be a very modest one.
Karlan Grant could prevent Johnston from playing starring role this season
Should Johnston’s permanent arrival have been confirmed at the beginning of August rather than the end, he may well have gone straight back into the West Brom starting lineup.
But as his transfer saga rumbled on throughout the month, only to be resolved in the dying hours of the window, Baggies winger Karlan Grant was stamping his authority in Corberan’s side.
Grant was unlucky not have scored more goals in the opening weeks of the season, with his work-rate and all-round team play proving vital to Albion’s strong start to the campaign.
The former Huddersfield man has drawn his fair share of criticism and skeptics in recent times, with his performances in the 2022/23 season ensuring he would be shipped out on loan to Cardiff City last season.
| Grant’s career stats as a contracted WBA player (all comps), per FotMob | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Season | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Cardiff | 23/24 | 40 | 6 | 3 |
| WBA | 22/23 | 35 | 5 | 1 |
| WBA | 21/22 | 45 | 18 | 7 |
| WBA | 20/21 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
The 27-year-old has started the 2024/25 season looking like a different player entirely, and certainly looks to have made the left-wing his own in Corberan’s side.
Johnston is a player that many would’ve assumed would instantly reprise his starting role on the left flank should he return to The Hawthorns this season, but with Grant’s form leaving him fairly undroppable as things stand, he could be forced to play more of a rotational role this term.
Normally, a position change is the best way for a player to break into the side in this situation, but with the excellent Tom Fellows on the right and the ever-effective John Swift and Grady Diangana clogging up the number 10 spot, Johnston’s best chance may be to bank on Grant’s early season form being a red herring.
If it isn’t, the Irish international may see the majority of his minutes come from off the bench. Even so, with the Championship being the marathon that it is, Johnston will likely still have plenty of opportunities to prove his worth to the football club this season.
Capology has Grant earning a weekly salary of £20,000. So, with him potentially costing almost double what it costs the club to employ Johnston, and given the fact Grant’s contract is set to expire in the summer of 2026, he could be a player the club looks to cash in on in the near future.
Therefore, patience may truly prove to be a virtue for Johnston, biding his time and performing well in the meantime whenever he is handed the chance to show what he can do.
