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It could prove to be a shrewd investment for the Championship side

With clubs clamouring for the signature of West Bromwich Albion forward Brandon Thomas-Asante, the club needed to begin planning a replacement.

They did not waste any time. Thomas-Asante had not even officially made it out of the door himself - with both Hull City and Coventry Cityfighting for his services - before former Barnsley striker Devante Cole had been announced at the Hawthorns.

Cole arrives on a free transfer after his terms at Oakwell expired this summer, signing a two-year deal on arrival.

Though not without risk, the initial signs point towards good work all around by the Baggies.

Cole is a capable replacement

Though not a prolific striker, netting 11 times in 39 appearances for West Brom last season, Thomas-Asante offered more than goals as a significant presence in the frontline.

Cole will be hoping he can hit the ground running and become a similarly relied-on figure at the Hawthorns, spearheading the club to another play-off finish as a minimum.

He arrives off the back of a productive season, netting 18 goals in 46 outings, albeit in the league below. Another promising feature of Cole is that he's missed just one league game in the past two seasons, but he still made the bench for that game.

Consistent availability is important when assessing the quality of a new signing because any player is only as good as their fitness and health allow them to be. That you can almost guarantee Cole will be up for selection takes some pressure off the shoulders of Corberan and the club's other strikers, such as Josh Maja and Daryl Dike.

Time will tell whether he can carry that through to the division above, but it looks like a smart pick-up on paper.

The sale of Thomas-Asante is reportedly netting West Brom between £2-3 million.

With the fact that Cole is arriving on a free, any money that the Baggies receive for Thomas-Asante can be kept as profit, rather than needing to be reinvested in a direct replacement.

It looks like a smart move from the West Midlands side, who now have an extra few million pounds to reinvest in the rest of the squad, whilst maintaining a similar level of quality in attack.

Depending on how they spend that spare money, it seems West Brom may have cashed in at the right time.

A big season for Cole

On paper, switching out Thomas-Asante for Cole, and putting a hefty sum in their back pocket in the process, West Brom have conducted some strong business.

The one snag that presents some risk for the Baggies is Cole's Championship pedigree. The 29-year-old has just 24 second-tier appearances to his name and only scored once in those outings.

It would be too soon to write the forward off based on that attempt, however, as it was part of a disastrous Barnsley season that saw them finish dead last, four points below Derby County, who had been deducted 21 points.

Nevertheless, it is a big opportunity for Cole and potentially his last at this level if he puts out similar numbers as part of a promotion-chasing team.