Friday 2 September 2016 10:08, UK
West Brom chairman John Williams has revealed the club were on the verge of making a record signing on deadline day before the transfer fell through for “footballing reasons”.
A section of West Brom supporters have grown disgruntled at manager Tony Pulis, who added five players to his squad during the transfer window, with Allan Nyom and Hal Robson-Kanu joining on deadline day.
In a statement on the club's official website, Williams spoke of Pulis' selective transfer policy and stated the club will be "ready to act" if the right opportunity presents itself in in the January transfer window.
"Our head coach Tony Pulis is very selective and particular about the players he recruits so it follows that the new team members will add significantly to his first-team options. Tony wanted five and we got five," Williams said.
"That having been said, the one disappointment we suffered was not being able to add a further quality midfield player.
"We were a long way down the road with a deal, which for the second time in the window would have broken the club transfer record, thanks to the ongoing support of Jeremy Peace and Guochuan Lai.
"But it was decided for footballing reasons not to pursue this. Despite it being late in the window, we decided to pursue another high-quality target. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the deal over the line.
"However, it does mean we can re-group if a suitable new deal presents itself in January when we will be ready to act."
Williams, however said, he feels the club finished the summer transfer window stronger than they started, in which they also added the signatures of Matt Phillips, Brendan Galloway and Nacer Chadli, who joined on a club-record fee for £13m.
During the window Albion, who spent £22.5m - the fifth lowest in the Premier League - saw Rickie Lambert and Cristian Gamboa leave for Cardiff and Celtic respectively while Sebastien Pocognoli joined Brighton on loan.
