Head coach Philippe Clement confirmed ahead of Tuesday’s Hawthorns test the US international remains in the cold, in a stand-off sparked by interest from Toronto FC.

Sargent has missed the two previous league and cup games, and been banished to train with the club’s Under-21s, but Clement indicated there is no imminent thaw.

Toronto’s initial enquiry is well short of City’s valuation for a player who could have left for the Bundesliga last summer in a £23m package.

“If there is a change, I will tell you guys directly, because I don’t want every three days, the same question and the same answer. So for the moment, no, if there’s a change I will be the first one to tell everybody, of course,” said Clement, who does expect possible exits for fringe players ahead of the February 2 deadline.

“It’s not about putting players out. It needs to be good for their career also, or otherwise they can compete here in the building.

“Maybe a young player who didn’t have enough chance to get playing minutes you make a decision one moment to put them on loan, but then you need to be guaranteed that he gets the minutes there. Those are decisions to be made after you made more transfers and, if so, in what positions, so we will see at the end of the window.”

Makama notched his 10th league goal of a breakout season with the winner to sink Wrexham at the weekend.

“I’m totally not busy with being surprised, because maybe you don’t know yet, but I’m a perfectionist,” said Clement. “So for me, I always see what we can make better, and it starts in the first place with myself, so I’m happy with the progression that he is making, but I see also a lot of things that we can make better as a staff.

“All the staff is working hard on that job also, and it’s good for the team, the progression he is making, but it has also something to do not only with himself, but also everything around him; the way the team is playing, the way the team is giving service now to the attacking players, compared with a while ago, in terms of the passes.

“Getting the ball into the box in the right moment, how we deliver it, all these things are connected. So it’s not only one player who’s making huge steps forward. It’s all connected.”