Big behind-the-scenes West Brom transfer claim emerges, it's brilliant news for Bruce - opinion

A behind-the-scenes transfer claim has emerged regarding recent rumours linking West Bromwich Albion defender Dara O’Shea with a move to fellow Championship club Burnley.

After the defender was linked with a move to Turf Moor earlier this week, a recent report from Lancashire Live has claimed that no contact has been made by the Clarets towards the Baggies over a potential deal for the player.

The centre-back joined West Brom’s under-18 squad in 2015 and has gone on to make 103 appearances for the Midlands club across their senior and youth teams, chipping in with seven goals and providing four assists along the way.

Over 59 matches across the Championship and Premier League, the Irishman has won 60 tackles and made 84 interceptions.

Also, despite missing a significant chunk of last season through injury, the 23-year-old still ended the campaign with a higher performance rating (7.09/10) than any other player in Steve Bruce’s squad according to WhoScored.

Taking this into account, it’s safe to say that it would be a big blow for the Baggies to potentially see the defender wave goodbye to The Hawthorns this summer, especially having seen Cedric Kipre leaving the club recently to sign for fellow Championship side Cardiff City on a season-long loan deal.

Bearing in mind how Burnley have seen the likes of James Tarkowski, Ben Mee and Nathan Collins leave Turf Moor this summer, it makes sense for them to be looking at a player like O’Shea to add some defensive strength to their squad.

However, if West Brom were to sell one of their key assets to another club trying to win promotion back to the Premier League, it surely wouldn’t go down well with Baggies supporters.

Now that this latest update has emerged, it should definitely