West Brom manager Carlos Corberan insists he is “completely focused” on his work with the Baggies and branded links to the Leicester City job as “speculation”.
Corberan was high on City’s shortlist in the summer, before they appointed Steve Cooper, and is now the second shortest contender with bookmakers, behind odds-on favourite Ruud van Nistelrooy. But he has indicated that no approach has been made and that he was not even aware Cooper had been dismissed until 24 hours after the sacking.
On Tuesday night, Corberan led his injury-hit side to a 0-0 with promotion contenders Sunderland, their eighth draw in their last nine matches. It leaves them seventh in the Championship table, sitting outside the play-off spots on goal difference.
Asked about links to the vacancy at the King Power Stadium, Corberan told the Express and Star: “I can only say how focused I am at West Bromwich, how proud I feel to be the coach of this amazing club. I understand that football always has speculation around, but I didn’t even know that Leicester’s coach was sacked, for example, until last night (Monday). There is so much speculation that can appear out of my control.
“I am completely focused in my work, my club, to get better form, to give fans better results. Hopefully our fans don’t feel any type of lack of respect because there are always things in the media we cannot control.”
Corberan’s star has been on the rise since he was promoted to a key part of Marcelo Bielsa’s staff at Leeds. The Spaniard was in charge of Huddersfield when they lost 1-0 to Cooper’s Nottingham Forest in the 2022 play-off final, and while he did not last long at Olympiacos, he has done a good job at the Hawthorns, leading them to the play-off semi-finals last season.
If City wanted to bring in Corberan, they would have to pay compensation for the 41-year-old. There are suggestions that it would cost around £4m to get him out of West Brom.
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