Valerien Ismael: West Brom likely to stay in English market in January transfer window
West Brom manager Valerien Ismael has suggested that the club will not look abroad for new signings in January.
There are just three and a half weeks to go until the transfer window opens, with Albion preparing to utilise it to aid their promotion bid.
It has been reported that their priority will be to sign a striker, having lacked cutting edge in the final third in the first half of the campaign.
Speaking to the Express & Star, Ismael said: “January is a tricky one to go into the international market. Players for us need to speak English to understand straight away what we want because we don’t have any break.
“You play on January 2 and so on. And you need a player that can help you straight away.
“It’s a tricky one because if you take a player from abroad and he cannot speak English – maybe he has the quality – but you don’t know if he will adapt to the Championship straight away.
“In January it is difficult because you don’t have time, you need the money and it’s not easy to get everything going in the same direction.
“But we have some trigger and we want to pick the players that will speed up the process.”
Wise move
This seem a wise tactic from Ismael. West Brom need players who will come in and make an instant impact, as they are already playing catch up in the race for automatic promotion – they currently trail second-place Bournemouth by six points.
It is also not that much of a surprise. All of Albion’s summer signings came from English clubs, while they have been linked with a host of players in the Premier League and Championship, such as Tom Lawrence and Dwight Gayle.
Of course one of their targets, Daryl Dike, plays in MLS with Orlando City but there is no language barrier in place there and he has played in the Championship previously with Barnsley.
Having managed in Germany and Austria previously, Ismael may have wanted to identify targets in those countries, but that could be a strategy he engages next summer (2022).
Hidden gems can be found abroad for cheap prices, with Norwich City and Brentford winning promotion from the Championship in recent years having focused their recruitment in foreign markets.
In other West Brom news, Joseph Masi has outlined what Albion are “very keen” to do in the January transfer window.
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