"Used his connections" - George Boateng's role in Coventry City, West Brom deal hailed | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit has given his verdict on the club's move to sign Brandon Thomas-Asante from West Brom

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

FLW’s Coventry City fan pundit Neil Littlewood believes the move to sign Brandon Thomas-Asante from West Bromwich Albion is a great addition to Mark Robins’ squad and has hailed George Boateng's influence.

According to The Telegraph’s John Percy, the Sky Blues have hijacked Hull City’s attempt to sign the forward.

Flashscore has reported that Boateng was influential in getting the deal done. The Coventry coach called the striker up to the Ghana preliminary squad during his time in the national team setup.

Thomas-Asante will be the latest addition to the squad this summer following signings such as Jack Rudoni and Oliver Dovin.

The 25-year-old looks a replacement for Matty Godden, who departed earlier in the window after the end of his contract.

Thomas-Asante contributed 11 goals and two assists from 39 appearances in the Championship for West Brom last season (all stats from Fbref).

Coventry’s Thomas-Asante move is great business

Littlewood believes that Thomas-Asante can bring something different to Robins’ current attacking options, which should prove beneficial.

He has claimed that the low cost of the deal being reported makes this a great piece of business for the Championship club.

“So this is one that was rumoured before we were back for pre-season, there was lots of talk that he’d been at our training ground and that had talks that hadn’t materialised,” Littlewood told Football League World.

“Quite happy to see it come back, he played really good against us in both games last year.

“He’s really quick, direct, which looking at the new signings of Mason-Clark, Rudoni’s through balls, looks like the sort of signing we could make.

“I don’t think he’d be the first-choice striker, we obviously need to replace Matty Godden.

“But he’s young, he offers something different.

“You look at our strikers at the minute and you’ve got Ellis Simms, big powerful striker, Haji Wright can play through the middle. Again, big, powerful.

“It just gives us that option, a bit more dynamic, a bit more pacey.

“The rumour seems to be that George Boateng had a lot to do with it, he was involved in the Ghana setup, so it looks like he’s used his connections with Thomas-Asante from there.

“The way that we’ve been doing deals seem to be low upfront and backloaded with add-ons based on promotion and stuff like that.

“It’s £2 million, rising to £4.5 million based on add-ons, if that’s the case then that’s a fantastic bit of business for someone that’s going to come in and be a squad player.

“Hopefully he’ll be that piece that gets us into the play-offs.”

Brandon Thomas-Asante's importance to West Brom

Thomas-Asante signed for West Brom in 2022, arriving from Salford City.

During his two seasons at the Hawthorns, he made 72 appearances in the league and registered 18 goals and two assists.

Coventry will be hoping he can provide a similar goal return provided this deal gets over the line, with their sights set on a place back in the Premier League.

Robins’ side finished ninth in the table last season, so will be looking to break into the top six in 2025.

Thomas-Asante is shrewd signing for Coventry

Coventry needed another forward option this summer after Godden made the move to Charlton Athletic.

Someone like Thomas-Asante is a great option, as he is available at a relatively low sum and is still only 25.

Littlewood is also on the money in suggesting he brings something different to what they already have, which could be a nice plan B to have in the team.