Slaven Bilic lost his job at West Brom after falling out with chief Luke Dowling.

The Daily Mail says Bilic's departure has been inevitable due to a breakdown in relations with Dowling, the club's sporting and technical director.

The sale of Ahmed Hegazi to Saudi club Al-Ittihad in October brought the rift into the public eye but the tension had been bubbling at the training ground ever since Bilic learned he would have just £25million, plus whatever he could generate from player sales, to spend on new signings for the top flight. C

West Brom argue that Bilic always knew his resources would be limited; Bilic would counter that he didn't realise the extent to which they would be. Why else would he have mentioned Ollie Watkins and Eberechi Eze as targets? Watkins ultimately went to Aston Villa from Brentford for a fee that could reach £33m; Eze left QPR for Crystal Palace for £16m.

By the time West Brom finally made their move for Eze, the 22-year-old had already decided he would join Palace, even though he had been aware of Bilic's interest two months earlier.

Bilic knew from the moment Albion won promotion that the squad needed strengthening, and felt those above him did not share his sense of urgency.