West Brom could axe star who earns more than Maja & Johnston combined

Carlos Corberan’s Baggies are yet to taste defeat this season too in the league, with five wins and one draw picked up from six total clashes to date, as promotion dreams start to be tentatively discussed.

Josh Maja has been sensational for his promotion-chasing side so far, having wriggled free now of any injury issues that plagued his first full season in the West Midlands to become a goal machine finally.

Maja’s season so far

The former Sunderland youth product has been a revelation for Corberan’s men this season to date, having only managed to be fit for 12 Championship games all last campaign, with just one paltry goal coming his way.

Now, however, the 25-year-old attacker is a man possessed as the Baggies’ leading man up top, with a stunning six goals managed from six league encounters, including netting the winning goal last match against Wayne Rooney’s Pilgrims.

Scoring every 81 minutes for his side in the second tier, the on-fire number nine will aim to keep up his blistering form as Corberan’s men also strive to remain at the top of the division for as long as possible.

West Brom are managing to pick up these sensational results without even getting the best out of Mikey Johnston on his permanent return yet, having been placed on the substitutes bench for his two league games back at the Baggies so far, with the West Brom boss well aware that the former Celtic man can tear second tier defences to shreds when at the peak of his powers.

His seven second tier goals last season from 18 games helped West Brom clinch a playoff spot, and he will no doubt come in handy this time around as well, even if he is being kept out of the main XI currently by a resurgent Karlan Grant.

Amazingly, however, despite Maja and Johnston looking like they’ll both be vital as their side continue to hunt down promotion, the entertaining attacking duo earn less per week combined than injury-prone Daryl Dike, as per Capology, who still remains sidelined after a horror injury against Ipswich Town in February this year.

Dike’s wage at West Brom

According to the site, the forgotten American striker is still on a considerable pay packet at the Hawthorns despite his recurring injury problems, earning a bumper £32.3k-per-week.

That’s the case despite Dike only being fit for five games in total so far in 2024, whilst Maja has been everpresent in the second tier for his side so far in league action.

Top five highest earners at West Brom – 24/25
Player	Wage
1. Mason Holgate	£70k-per-week
2. Daryl Dike	£32.3k-per-week
3. Jed Wallace	£25k-per-week
4. Paddy McNair	£25k-per-week
5. John Swift	£22.5k-per-week
Sourced by Capology

Whilst Dike comes in as the second highest earner in the Baggies camp now, both Maja and Johnston earn a lesser £17k-per-week and £12.5k-per-week respectively – or £29.5k-per-week combined – despite offering a lot more than the constantly sidelined former Barnsley man.

It’s not as if the ex-Tykes centre-forward has set the world alight when he has been fit for the Baggies either, with eight goals tallied up from 32 games, with Maja now only one goal off that total from 13 fewer games.

The 24-year-old has reportedly returned to training recently, in a bid to get back up to speed soon enough to compete with Maja, but there must be a temptation from the powers that be at West Brom to get him off the roster soon, owing to his in-and-out nature occupying the Hawthorns treatment room.

He could well give West Brom more options though, with summer purchase Devante Cole not banging down the door for more opportunities up top, but there will be anxiety in the air that another injury will be aggravated soon and then the patient Baggies are back to square one all over again with their high earner.