West Brom close on Wicky appointment as new boss

West Bromwich Albion have settled on former Basel and Young Boys coach Raphael Wicky as their preferred candidate to succeed Carlos Corberan at The Hawthorns.

The 47-year-old is now very short odds in the betting markets - and Albion have confirmed that an appointment is thought to be close.

Corberan quit the Baggies on Christmas Eve to take charge of his home town club Valencia in Spain.

Albion officials, led by sporting director Andrew Nestor, who has been heading the recruitment process, have been working on identifying a successor, leaving former player Chris Brunt to head a three-man caretaker management team.

Former Manchester United assistant manager Rene Hake was in contention but Wicky has risen to the top of his list after impressing in talks this week.

The 75-times-capped former Swiss international midfielder began his coaching career in his home country with Thun in 2009, also working at Servette and Basel.

He took on his first managerial role with Basel in 2017, losing his job the following year before taking charge of the United States Under-17s team in 2019.

He returned to Switzerland with Young Boys in 2022, clinching a league and cup double in Switzerland in 2023 but he was sacked in March last year.

Albion currently lie sixth in the Championship, having so far picked up five points out of a possible 12 in their four games under Brunt.

They face Bournemouth in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

'Albion net cast far and wide' - analysis

Steve Hermon, BBC Radio WM

It's been 17 days since Carlos Corberan packed his suitcase to leave for Spain and Albion began searching for a new head coach.

The noises out of the club promised it would be a thorough process with patience favoured over speed and that has proven to be the case, but it appears they have reached the final hurdle.

Advanced talks are underway with Raphael Wicky and an official appointment could be made in the coming days if negotiations go well.

The recruitment process has been led by Andrew Nestor, who has links in Europe thanks to his previous work with Italian side Bologna.

The net was always going to be cast far and wide. That doesn't mean they didn't look closer to home, with former Blues boss John Eustace understood to be one of those considered earlier in the process, although as we know, Luke Williams never was.

After a shortlist was drawn up earlier this week, interviews were held with three candidates spoken to, but it now appears that Wicky is their man.