Daniel Feliciano

Wed 24 August 2022 10:23, UK

Carlton Palmer has admitted that he raised his eyebrows when West Brom re-signed Okay Yokuslu on a free transfer this summer.

Yokuslu put pen to paper on a three-year contract after being released by La Liga club Celta Vigo at the end of last season, returning to The Hawthorns following a loan spell two years ago.

After taking his time to get back to full fitness Yokuslu started in the weekend’s 5-2 win over Hull and excelled, and while he was initially sceptical about the deal Palmer told Football League World that the shirt should now be his to lose.

“Yeah, it’s interesting them bringing him back, I raised my eyebrows with that one,” he said.

“But he did play very, very well against Hull and we’ll have to see. I mean, West Brom won, and he played very well, so as I’ve always said, you’re in possession of the shirt.

“And that’s down to him. Now, you’d expect him to start the next game. They’ve won, won impressively and he played well.”

Quality

West Brom haven’t had the busiest transfer window, but the business they have been able to do with incomings has been nothing short of quality so far.

John Swift and Jed Wallace also arrived, but neither had any top flight experience despite their obvious qualities.

But Yokuslu has played in the Premier League, La Liga and Turkish Super Lig, as well as having 39 caps for the Turkish national team.

His quality in possession from a deeper midfield role really helped get the forwards in the team the ball on a more regular basis, in more dangerous areas, and that showed when the Baggies scored five goals and missed several other chances too.

He looks set to displace the captain of the team in Jake Livermore in that role and the fans will now be hopeful that he can stay fit to be able to drive the team towards their goal of promotion to the Premier League for next season.

In other West Brom news, the club want to sign this £30k p/w free agent who already turned down a move to a Championship rival this summer