Guillem Balague: West Brom interested in Spanish forward, club want £22.3m

West Brom are interested in Espanyol striker Raul de Tomas on deadline day, according to Guillem Balague.

The BBC journalist claimed that the Spanish forward is interesting a number of Premier League clubs – with the Baggies top of that list.

The 25-year-old is currently in the Segunda Division in Spain, after Espanyol’s relegation from La Liga last season.

West Brom

Writing on his personal Twitter account, Balague claimed that Espanyol are asking for £22.3million – a fee unlikely to be spent by anyone.

Spanish publication, AS, reported on Sunday that the Baggies had enquired over the possibility of signing de Tomas in this window.

They claimed that West Brom would need to spend close to £27million to secure his services, with the fee having already dropped.

Karlan Grant of Huddersfield remains the number one target and is currently available for much cheaper too.

If the Baggies are struggling to meet the Terriers £16million, they definitely aren’t going to be splashing out over £20million on an unproven option who was relegated in Spain.

The 25-year-old scored four times in 14 appearances for Espanyol last season and failed to find the back of the net after being sent out on loan to Benfica.

West Brom are crying out for goals at the Hawthorns, and based on this less than flattering record – de Tomas isn’t the man.

In other West Brom news, Baggies ace poised for permanent exit on Monday

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