West Brom will hope Celtic, West Ham, Bristol City trio can break recent trend: View | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion will look to maintain a promotion push back to the Premier League at the third attempt.

The Baggies have had their fortunes transformed since the arrival of Carlos Corberan back in October 2022, with the Spaniard taking the Black Country from the foot of the second tier table to play-off contention last campaign.

Albion continue to fight towards the top end of the division this term under the former Huddersfield Town coach, with the West Brom supporters dreaming of top flight football once again despite concerning off-field issues.

The West Midlands side finds themselves in a precarious financial situation due to a lack of investment from controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai, and the club were restricted in recruitment this season after taking out a £20 million loan from MSD Holdings, with additional funds secured from the American-based company in November.

During the January transfer window, the Baggies recruited three players into B71, with experienced forward Andi Weimann joining on a loan deal from Bristol City, exciting youngster Callum Marshall linking up on loan from Premier League outfit West Ham, while forward Mikey Johnston has also arrived from Celtic for the remainder of the season.

To keep their place inside the top six come May, Albion will be hoping these loan additions can add an extra dimension to the playing squad, but previous loan signings have failed to have the desired impact.

West Brom’s poor loan recruitment

In recent years, Albion have utilised the loan market on plenty of occasions in an attempt to bolster the squad.

It’s safe to say the majority of these incomings have been very underwhelming, with the Baggies not being shrewd enough in the market to attract the right type of player in order to push the club forward.

Current Leicester City winger Marc Albrighton was unable to deliver any success in a blue and white shirt at the back end of last season, failing to register an attacking contribution from 17 Championship outings.

It hasn’t fared much better this campaign either, with limited minutes for Jeremy Sarmiento resulting in a recall to Brighton before the Ecuadorian international was loaned back out to Championship rivals Ipswich Town.

Sarmiento would score just twice from 20 domestic matches at The Hawthorns, while Pipa, another loan signing from Ludogorets last summer, hasn’t been able to force himself into the starting XI on a consistent basis.

West Brom’s last loan signing success

The last time the Baggies had a successful loan player at the club came back in the 2019/20 campaign, when they acquired the services of Brazilian playmaker Matheus Pereira, who would go on to make himself a household name in B71.

Pereira quickly established himself as one of the greatest talents in the second tier with his vision for picking out a killer ball as well as an eye for a goal playing a significant role in West Brom’s promotion under Slaven Bilic.

The winger scored eight goals with 16 assists in his debut campaign as the orchestrator of Albion’s attacking frontline, with his productivity in the final third a nuisance to Championship defenders.

The 27-year-old continued to shine in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals with six assists, including a brace against local rivals Wolves at Molineux.

Albion also managed to witness the breakthrough of attacker Harvey Barnes’ career, who was a key component under Darren Moore during the first half of the 2018/19 season. Barnes would continue to raise his stock after his recall to Leicester before earning a big money move to Newcastle United.

West Brom pin hopes on latest recruits

West Brom will be hoping they’ve uncovered some gems for the rest of this term.

Andi Weimann has proven throughout his career that he knows where the back of the net is and will need a consistent run of games to show what he can offer to the squad.

Mikey Johnston has struggled with fitness issues in the past at Celtic and is another to need a significant rise in his minutes, so he can showcase the excellent dribbling skills he possesses alongside his strength in one-on-one situations.

Meanwhile, Callum Marshall is a largely unknown prodigy, but has scored a hefty number of goals for West Ham in their PL2 side, so this loan move has the potential to cause the breakthrough of his career and benefit West Brom’s promotion hopes if he can find the net regularly.

Baggies boss Corberan has worked miracles by getting Albion back into the promotion mix from the Steve Bruce era, and with his track record of improving players in such a short timeframe, the Spaniard could be set to end West Brom’s loan curse once and for all.