West Brom's James Morrison Aims for Key Transfer Before Deadline

West Brom boss James Morrison is pushing for at least one more major addition before the transfer window shuts – and the next one could be very familiar.

The Championship club are close to agreeing a deal worth up to £7.6m with Manchester United for midfielder Toby Collyer, who impressed on loan at The Hawthorns during the first half of last season. Talks have been ongoing for weeks; now West Brom are moving in to finish the job.

Morrison has already overseen a busy summer, but he has no intention of easing off before the 1 September deadline. The squad has started fast, two wins from two in the league, and the head coach wants to turn a promising opening into a sustained promotion push.

“We have to do things a little bit differently, we have to be clever about it,” he told BBC Radio WM, reflecting on the volume of business already done.

The club have had to work within tight parameters, but eight new faces are already through the door – and Collyer would make it nine.

One of those recent arrivals is Spanish winger Kareem Tunde, signed from Levante this week and already catching Morrison’s eye on the training pitch.

“It’s a big opportunity for him, coming to a new culture, still only being 21,” Morrison said. “He’s an exciting prospect and an exciting player, so we’re delighted to have him.”

West Brom have lacked genuine pace out wide in recent seasons. Morrison did not hide the fact that Tunde has been brought in to change that dynamic.

“It just gives us different options now,” he added. “I felt like we’ve always missed that little bit in games where we could stretch our opposition and he’s got that pace and power that we’ve been looking for.”

The pressure for more business has not eased with Tunde’s arrival. If anything, the strong start has sharpened the club’s ambition.

“I am hopeful,” Morrison said when asked if there would be further signings. There has been “a lot of hard work” behind the scenes, he stressed, and the recruitment so far reflects a clear plan rather than a scattergun scramble.

On the pitch, that planning is already paying off. Two games, two wins, and a sense that West Brom are building something more durable than last season’s late surge. The early standard, Morrison insists, cannot slip.

Next Fixture

Next comes a trip loaded with personal meaning for the head coach: Middlesbrough away on Saturday, his hometown club and the place where his professional journey began.

For some managers, that might invite sentimentality. Morrison has already lived that story.

“I’ve been back many times and played, so I’m over that,” he said. The first time, he admits, the occasion got the better of him. “I can remember my first one going back and I was all over the place, I was terrible. So I learnt from that experience.”

He learned so well that on his last visit as a player, he scored. That moment still lingers in his mind. Now he returns in the technical area, fully aware of the size of the challenge.

“I’m really looking forward to the game, but also I know this is going to be one of the toughest away fixtures we’ll face,” he said.

The message to his players is blunt. The bar has been set in August. It cannot be lowered in September, no matter how busy the window gets.