West Brom's deadline day dream includes completing one key transfer

Transfer deadline day is upon us - but for West Bromwich Albion fans, for the first time in a number of years, transfers aren’t on the minds of the supporters.

They’ve been so busy on this day in the last few years; there was the famous (or infamous) arriving trio of Stefan Johansen, Jacob Murphy and Jefferson Montero. A year later, Kamil Grosicki and Lee Peltier arrived.

Then last year, it was Okay Yokuslu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. So many loan players, not too many success stories between them, as the club time and again looked to plug holes in their squad with short-term thinking.

This January has been different. The club pointed to a brighter future of long-term planning with the signing of Daryl Dike, but with less than 90 competitive minutes under his belt he suffered an injury which has ruled him out for at least two months. Albion that.

Andy Carroll is apt cover, judging by his performance on debut on Saturday. Short-term thinking in that situation is a necessity, but the Baggies aren’t planning any last minute panic deals this month.

They will try and sort some loan deals out for one or two of their fringe players and promising youngsters. Rayhaan Tulloch, Alex Palmer and Kenneth Zohore will be among them, though at this stage all eyes are on the boardroom and the future of manager Valerien Ismael.

Fans want this coming week to be kicked off with clarity. Ismael’s reign at the club has been left in the balance after two dreadful defeats and appalling performances against Preston and then Millwall in the space of four days.

Still, as we kick off this Monday deadline day and know that deals are expected to be thin on the ground within the walls of The Hawthorns, we can but dream. What would constitute an ideal