Steve Bruce drops transfer hint as West Brom begin planning for summer

West Brom will need to negotiate their way through the forthcoming summer transfer window intelligently - and in order to do so they’re already assessing the options who could be available as free agents.

Albion, who spent £7m on Daryl Dike in January, likely won’t have a deep pot of money to spend in the summer, especially if they remain a Championship team, but that outcome wouldn’t appear to deter manager Steve Bruce.

The Albion boss has navigated teams to promotion from the Championship previously without spending copious amounts of money and, in the event that he can’t mastermind the unlikeliest of promotions from the Baggies’ currently precarious position, then it’ll be another summer of working within the club’s means.

They ran a tight ship last summer, working with free transfers and Premier League loans, and it’s likely to be a similar situation again if their Championship status remains in tact.

“Any successful club, unless you are Chelsea who have change, it’s vitally important to start early,” Bruce reasoned. “The clubs where I have had success, there has been that continuity.

“We would be wrong to not identify the Bosmans of this world, because everyone else is. It’s important we have those conversations and already we are planning for the summer.

“I think that’s normal when you are in March like we are. I think you should be making plans and looking ahead. Loans from the big clubs always help – but usually they are a little bit later.

“Usually clubs take their young ones away with them and them make a decision on whether they are going to stay with them or go out on loan. When it comes to who is available on a Bosman – we have got to be ahead of the game and target people who we think will improve us.”

Bruc