Imagine him & O’Shea: Bruce can form powerful WBA duo by signing "immense" machine - opinion

West Bromwich Albion have a number of young players in their squad who could go on to become long-term figures for the club.

One of those is 23-year-old defender Dara O’Shea, who is the second-youngest centre-back in West Brom’s senior squad.

Despite his tender age, the Irishman has seen his fair share of action in the first team, with 66 Baggies appearances under his belt across all competitions.

O’Shea played the entire 90 minutes of all of West Brom’s opening five Championship games of the season under Valerien Ismael before a serious ankle injury kept him out of action for a few months. After his recovery, the defender played every minute of Albion’s final five league matches of the campaign under Steve Bruce.

Looking ahead to next season, it seems likely that the Irishman will be a prominent figure for the Baggies as they face another campaign in the second tier.

Before then, the summer transfer window could give Bruce and the Midlands club the chance to add another young but experienced centre-back to their squad and potentially establish a formidable duo at the back.

Earlier this season, the Baggies were linked with a move for Tottenham defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

As a product of Spurs’ youth academy, the 24-year-old has had loan spells with Sheffield United, Ipswich Town, Swansea City, Stoke City, Luton Town and Bournemouth.

This season has seen the American spend time in Scotland with Celtic for their title-winning campaign.

Having featured in the Hoops’ final league game against Motherwell this afternoon, the defender has made 45 appearances for Celtic across all competitions, chipping in with four goals and one assist along the way.

To highlight how useful a defensive figure he has been for the Bhoys, the