Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media

James Barker

Tue 2 June 2026 18:30, UK

West Bromwich Albion need to come out of the summer transfer window having installed some serious pace into James Morrison‘s team.

It remains to be seen what kind of players Morrison will target for his West Brom team this summer, as well as how much money he will have to spend.

Shilen Patel and the Albion hierarchy won’t want to see the club back in the position they were towards the end of last season, where the Baggies were found to have breached the EFL’s financial rules.

As a result, a sensible and shrewd approach to the transfer window will be in order at The Hawthorns, whilst also looking to put a group together that can compete towards the right end of the table next term.

West Brom will have a number of things to tick off on their transfer to-do list over the coming weeks, and sitting right near the top of that should be to bring pace into this squad.

West Brom were too one-dimensional in attack last season

West Brom could be getting new-look attack for the 2026-27 season, as this aspect of their team from last term was a clear weakness.

Daryl Dike and Jed Wallace are both leaving as free agents this summer, whilst it remains to be seen whether Josh Maja and Karlan Grant sign new deals or also hit the free agent market respectively.

Albion were fourth in the Championship for accurate passes per game last season, and delivered the joint-third most accurate crosses per game but finished joint-third last for goals scored per game respectively.

Much of that was down to being a little too one-dimensional regarding their forward options, with Aune Heggebo, Dike and Maja all physical, target man strikers who don’t really have the pace to run behind defenders.

The majority of Albion’s speed in attack comes through Mikey Johnston, but the winger suffered a season-ending ankle injury in late February, and it remains to be seen whether that will impact his sharpness when he returns.

Other than him, the Baggies don’t really have any other attacking player who can consistently knock the ball ahead of them and beat defenders for sheer pace, which limits Morrison tactically in terms of how his team can hurt the opposition.

West Brom have key to building competitive team in place

Much of West Brom’s summer recruitment plans should be centred around bolstering and diversifying their options in attack, and that’s because the defence is largely sorted.

So long as Max O’Leary signs Albion’s contract offer, Morrison’s defensive unit is pretty much set, with a quality group of central defenders and a top Championship left-back in Callum Styles.

Perhaps the only position that may need some attention is right-back, but Alfie Gilchrist does have the potential to have a much better second season at The Hawthorns and make that spot his own.

Having a settled and strong defence is the backbone of any successful team, and safe in the knowledge that he’s got that, Morrison and Albion transfer chiefs can really work on putting the final pieces together at the other end of the pitch this summer.