West Brom very keen on Ligue 1 forward, clubs haggling over loan fee – journalist
West Brom are very keen on signing Rennes forward M’Baye Niang in this window, according to Alan Nixon.
The Sun journalist reported on his personal Twitter account that it would be an initial loan move for the exciting Ligue 1 centre-forward.
It is suggested that the main argument that could affect the deal is the size of the initial loan fee the Baggies will pay the French club.
With the Grady Diangana deal breaking the club record, the majority of the budget of this summer has already been spent.
Slaven Bilic has admitted that he wants two new players through the door at the Hawthorns before the October deadline.
One of those is a striker, with Huddersfield staying strong over their valuation of Karlan Grant despite his desire to leave the club.
With the Grant deal having gone somewhat cold, it appears that the Baggies have moved quickly to try and secure a new target – in this case, Niang.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a phenomenal season in the previous campaign, scoring 15 goals and delivering a single assist.
Niang has only started one game this season against Lille at the end of August, completing 67 minutes in the 1-1 draw.
With minutes clearly being limited despite his performance last season, West Brom will be looking to take advantage of that with this move.
Callum Robinson led the line once again in the defeat against Everton on Saturday, and Charlie Austin was left out completely as the Baggies are yet to see one of their strikers score in their opening two fixtures.
Niang looks to be available, and once the loan fee is ironed out, we could be seeing a new striker unveiled sooner rather than later.
In other West Brom news, Slaven Bilic explains absence of Charlie Austin at Everton
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