West Bromwich Albion

Steve Hermon
BBC Radio WM's Albion reporter

Image source, Getty Images

For the second summer in a row, the Baggies have left it late to sell an experienced player who wore the captain's armband in their first match of the season.

Twelve months ago, Darnell Furlong was skipper as Albion opened the Championship campaign by beating Blackburn.

Two games later, then-boss Ryan Mason was blindsided by the sale of the full-back to Ipswich just four days before transfer deadline day.

Now, Alex Mowatt has walked out of the same door less than a week after leading the team out for a 4-1 win over Rotherham in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

It is not known if head coach James Morrison knew a bid was coming, but Derby's admiration of the 31-year-old has been longstanding.

There is a fair argument that both deals made sense for Albion.

They are ageing players on decent wages. Furlong's sale gave them much-needed money at a perilous time financially, while although officially undisclosed, Mowatt's move was believed to be worth about £650,000 and avoids the prospect of him leaving for nothing in the summer.

However, as with Furlong, the Yorkshireman's departure leaves big boots to fill with not much time to fill them.

Alfie Gilchrist was billed as the right-back replacement when he arrived from Chelsea a day after Furlong was sold, but it was centre-half George Campbell who was deployed there for the rest of Mason's reign.

As for Gilchrist, he was loaned to Leyton Orient this week, with his agent pointing out on social media that it was a "great opportunity" for the 22-year-old to "play regular football in his natural position at centre-back".

The club are better stocked to cope in the midfield department in terms of numbers, but Mowatt played a vital role, pulling the strings at the heart of the team.

Under Carlos Corberan, he was often the player who touched the ball more than any other, and all the head coaches that followed leant on him for inspiration.

He's racked up almost 500 career appearances in the second tier, so that's a huge amount of experience gone from a squad containing several players poised to make their Championship debuts.

Perhaps Albion are confident they already have the solution in their squad?

Irishman Jayson Molumby, who's been the subject of some speculation over his own future recently, played more games in central midfield alongside Ousmane Diakite than Mowatt during the 10-game unbeaten run that kept them in the division at the tail end of last season.

Academy product Harry Whitwell has blossomed in pre-season, albeit further up the field.

Left-back Callum Styles could replicate the midfield role he plays for his national team, Hungary, and Felix Horn Myhre may be another viable option. A Norwegian journalist told me that "everything" went through him at SK Brann, and he was their "most important player".

It would be an unenviable task for box-to-box Frenchman Rabby Nzingoula.

He's 20 years old and only arrived in England a few days ago.

We won't have to wait long to find out who steps up to the plate as The Throstles open their league season at Norwich on Saturday.

Baggies name new captain

One problem they have solved on the eve of the campaign is who the new captain will be.

Morrison has turned to George Campbell with the American describing the role as "an absolute honour".

He told the club: "I understand the privilege and great responsibility that comes with wearing the armband, especially at a club that has had so many iconic skippers over the years."

The 25-year-old became a fans' favourite in his debut campaign, so it should be a popular choice.

He wore the armband in a pre-season win at Peterborough earlier this month, but his leadership qualities were evident much earlier than that - none more so than when he fronted up and spoke to the media after February's disastrous defeat at Oxford in Morrison's first game in interim charge.

It is not an easy thing to do when things are not going well.

Hopefully, he will not have to talk too much about losses this season and will be leading the team to some success.

Image source, West Bromwich Albion via Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion's Championship opener at Norwich City on Saturday will bring back some happy memories for Conor Townsend, who made his Baggies debut against the Canaries in August 2018.

Eight years on, the 33-year-old left-back has returned to Albion after two seasons at Ipswich Town and he is poised to make the first league appearance of his second stint at The Hawthorns against the same opposition.

The 2018 fixture at Carrow Road ended in a 4-3 win for Albion, with Harvey Barnes and Hal Robson-Kanu adding to two earlier goals scored by Jay Rodriguez.

Townsend told BBC Radio WM: "It was a good game. I came on at half-time, I think Kieran Gibbs pulled his groin.

"It was a red-hot day and I think Norwich won the league that year.

"They're good memories and hopefully I can get my second league debut there on Saturday."

Last season, Norwich improved significantly following the appointment of boss Philippe Clement and finished ninth, eight points off the play-offs.

"They started poorly and then towards the end of the season they had that momentum going," added Townsend, who was injured for the whole of last season and therefore did not play a part in Ipswich's promotion-winning campaign.

"There's probably an argument that if they'd had another three or four weeks, they'd have been in the play-offs and would have been one of the favourites to go up."

Image source, Opta

Norwich City begin their Championship season with the visit of West Brom to Carrow Road on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Canaries overcame MK Dons 4-1 in the EFL Cup first round last weekend while the Baggies beat Rotherham by the same scoreline to reach round two.

Philippe Clement's side have lost four of their past five opening day fixtures in the Championship while Albion have lost just once in five years and began last season with a 1-0 win at home to Blackburn.

• Norwich City have won each of their past two games against West Bromwich Albion in all competitions, and three of their previous four overall (L1); they could win three in a row against the Baggies for the first time since November 1995.

• West Bromwich Albion have won just one of their past five league games against Norwich City (D1 L3), though it was a 1-0 victory in this exact fixture last season.

• No side has won more points in the Championship in 2026 than Norwich (44 – W14 D2 L6), while they've only lost two of their past 10 league games at Carrow Road (W6 D2).

• Only Sheffield Wednesday (8 excluding deductions) and Oxford United (18) collected fewer away points in the EFL Championship last season than West Brom (19); though eight of those points came following the appointment of James Morrison (W2 D2 L2).

• Among players with at least 450 minutes in the EFL Championship last season, Norwich's Mohamed Toure averaged more goals (1.36) and goal involvements (1.82) per 90 minutes than any other player, though nine of his 12 goal involvements came in away games.

West Bromwich Albion head coach James Morrison refused to be drawn on the club's chances of being in the mix for the newly-expanded play-offs, instead insisting this season was all about doing better than last.

Given the club's close shave with relegation last term, and the current limits of their spending power, Morrison does not want to start adding to the levels of expectation on his players before a ball is kicked in the Championship.

"I don't want to get too carried away, I don't want to put any more pressure on us but I think as a group we know where we want to get to," he told BBC Radio WM.

"We know what we have to do to get there and we have to remain good on the training pitch, competitive in the games, understanding what we've got to do.

"It's just hard work. You can have all the best tactics in the world but if the hard work's not there, we may as well stay at home."

From this season, two more play-off spots are available allowing teams finishing seventh and eighth to now have a shot a reaching the Premier League.

Albion, who last reached the play-offs in 2024, ended last term four points above the relegation zone in 21st after a tough campaign on and off the field.

With that in mind, Morrison, who said he feels "ready" for the new season said his main priority is to see an uptick on 2025-26 even though he thought more play-off contenders was a good idea.

"I'll welcome it. It means you have to give it an opportunity to keep going to the end of the season," he said.

"It gives more teams opportunities. It doesn't create that divide of same teams always being in around it. It gives the lesser teams a chance and I think a little change in football is always exciting and not be predictable.

"I'm not going to get into that [whether Albion's chances are improved] but I think for me at the start it's just about improving."

Albion start their Championship campaign at Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Derby are in talks with West Brom over a move for 31-year-old midfielder Alex Mowatt and the Rams also remain keen on bringing 27-year-old Chile international Ben Brereton Diaz back to Pride Park from Southampton. (John Percy, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Image source, Shutterstock

West Bromwich Albion have rejected an offer from fellow Championship club Derby County for midfielder Alex Mowatt, reports BBC Radio WM.

Mowatt, 31, has a year remaining on his contract at The Hawthorns.

The former Leeds and Barnsley man has made 170 appearances for the Baggies since joining in 2021 and started Saturday's Carabao Cup win at Rotherham.

Jonny Drury
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Harry Whitwell has been one of Albion's top academy talents who has been repeatedly tipped to make a first-team impact.

The midfielder has flirted with the edges of the first-team squad in the last two seasons, having made his league debut on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign.

Last season was one that brought around a key breakthrough and a bit of frustration for the talented youngster.

Having excelled on his first senior loan move in the first half of the season at Forest Green Rovers, Whitwell was recalled early this year amid a dreadful run under Eric Ramsay.

He started in the FA Cup, but game time was severely limited, and he watched from the sidelines when it may have been more beneficial for him to remain out on loan.

But if last season was the breakthrough away from the Hawthorns, this season may just be the one where he shines at Albion.

Heavily featured in pre-season, Whitwell was given the nod in the EFL Cup thumping of Rotherham before being taken off at half-time as a precaution.

Given the fact that Albion were close to full strength at the New York Stadium, Whitwell could well find himself thrust into the spotlight and handed a first league start at Norwich City on the opening day of the season.

If he is, it will be universally welcomed by supporters – who relish the chance to back "one of their own".

And if he is handed the chance, it is a massive statement from boss James Morrison. Post-Rotherham, the Albion boss said Whitwell had proved in pre-season he deserved his chance after the former midfielder laid down the challenge to the young players at the end of last season.

We've seen comments like that from other managers before, where they challenge academy players and promise them a big chance if they can show they are good enough.

However, far too many times we have seen managers at a number of clubs, including Albion, shy away from putting talented young players into the mix.

Sometimes it can be seen as too risky by some managers, while many fans would rather see head coaches be brave and hand out chances.

Morrison has shown that he is willing to do that and he will remain true to his word. Whitwell is the example of that, and it is refreshing to see.

There are others who could benefit from Morrison's way, too. Alex Williams and Ollie Bostock are in and around it in recent campaigns, the latter having had big moments last season.

Given Morrison's attitude towards the young stars and Whitwell's summer progression, a start at Carrow Road could well arrive for the midfielder on Saturday.

If it does, it would be a huge shot in the arm to the other Albion young guns, who will no doubt be buoyed by what they have seen this summer.

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West Bromwich Albion's young English midfielder Harry Whitwell has caught the eye of their opening day opponents Norwich City as the 20-year-old's future at the Hawthorns remains uncertain. (Full Throstle - requires subscription, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Chris Hall
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Fans always want business done earlier and marquee signings announced ahead of the new season. That's the nature of football.

When that doesn't happen, the fanbase usually gets frustrated and nervous.

That's how many Albion fans have been left feeling this summer.

While we've brought in some talented young players and an exciting prospect from Norway, many are still waiting for the arrival of the marquee forward signings many expected when Jed Wallace, Karlan Grant, Daryl Dike and Josh Maja departed in the summer.

The fact we are going into the season without having signed an experienced forward or an out-and-out wide man could be seen as an oversight.

However, Albion are not the only team struggling to get big deals done this summer, and when you dig a little deeper there's one very clear reason why.

Not The Top 20's Ali Maxwell highlighted on X that Championship clubs have (at the time of writing) completed 50 fewer transfers than League One clubs and more than 100 fewer than League Two teams.

The World Cup plays a part in this as Championship clubs often recruit from the Premier League.

Teams in the English top flight will have truncated pre-season preparations due to so many internationals being away over the summer and will be reticent to let players go until they have players back or have signed replacements.

However, the key reason for fewer second-tier transfers is a rule change that was applied by the FA in June and has barely been reported.

Since 2023, non-UK and Irish signings must meet one of two criteria.

They can achieve a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE), which judges the quality of the league they play in, the domestic and international appearances made and assigns the player points accordingly to determine if they qualify.

If they don't qualify for GBE status, then the second way they can play in this country is through an Elite Significant Contribution (ESC) slot, which can be assigned to up to four players per team each season.

However, this summer the FA restricted ESC slots to players whose birthdays were on or after 1 January 2003 (so, in essence, 23-year-olds or younger).

The knock-on effect of this small change has been dramatic.

It has significantly reduced the pool of players who can be signed from abroad by Championship clubs.

To put this in perspective, it was recently reported that Portsmouth had to cross more than 50 players off their shortlist due to this one change in the law.

Albion have had to get creative with their recruitment in recent years and find value in minor leagues due to the financial situation of the club.

Players such as Torbjorn Heggem, Ousmane Diakite, George Campbell and Aune Heggebo have all joined for relatively low fees and performed well.

Had this new ESC rule existed over the past two summers, we wouldn't have been allowed to sign any of those players.

Furthermore, reducing the pool of players that can be signed from abroad has increased the competition for those players who do qualify for GBE or ESC and pushed their price up.

It has also inflated the prices within the domestic market.

The big beneficiaries so far this window have been Premier League clubs who have been able to sell young talents like Will Lankshear, Lewis Dobbin, Radek Vitek, Alfie Devine and Danny Imray for substantial fees.

This is because there is an unusually small amount of trading happening between Championship clubs, probably because clubs know there is a substantial cost attached to replacing those players.

What trading is happening is often happening for inflated fees when you look at the transfers of Ethan Galbraith, Andre Brooks and Ben Whiteman.

The reality for Albion is that they can't get involved in that scramble, especially after last season's points deduction.

The Throstles must be prudent with their business, which probably means being patient and hoping things calm down later in the window.

Fans will naturally want marquee players through the door sooner rather than later but, at present, talents like the heavily linked Cameron Archer simply have too many potential suitors in a shrunken market for Albion to be in a strong negotiating position.

Should such players remain on the shelf later in the window, then, perhaps, it becomes a buyer's market, and Albion can come to the table.

Until that happens, the Baggies will have to remain patient, wait for there to be value in the market and, perhaps, rely a little more on academy talents than they might have planned.

That was probably the intention of the rule change all along and, if Harry Whitwell continues to flourish as he has in recent weeks, maybe the ESC rule change might prove a blessing in disguise.

West Bromwich Albion head coach James Morrison says the club are "in a good place" over their transfer business so far and will remain patient over potential targets for the rest of the window.

The Baggies have brought in six new players this summer as Morrison shapes his squad in preparation for his first full campaign as permanent boss.

That begins on Saturday with a trip to Rotherham in the Carabao Cup before the Championship action gets underway a week later.

"We're in a good place. As a club now we've got to be patient and find the right ones," he told BBC Radio WM.

"Good players are always going to create that excitement. I want good players to arrive so they create that good feeling around the place and excitement for the fans.

"We've done some good business, signed six players, we're in a good place, I'm happy with everything's going.

"I understand the market, I've understood myself - I'm not trying to get to want, want, want - I'm thinking about the bigger picture."

Morrison has been working with head of football operations Ian Pearce and said he has been "really happy" with how things have gone.

"It's about working relationships, different opinions, identifying what type of players we need, so I've been really happy with the way we've been working," he said.

The latest addition has been Norway midfielder Felix Horn Myhre, who Morrison said they had been interested in signing for a while.

"I picked him out. I liked the way he moved, the way he was with the ball, the way he got forward," Morrison added.

"He's been on our radar for quite a long time. He's used to playing games with Europe and internationally, so he's a well equipped and will fit in really well."

Image source, Getty Images

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West Bromwich Albion midfielder Souleyman Mandey has left The Hawthorns to return to his native Austria to join Grazer AK for an undisclosed fee.

The 20-year-old joined Albion's academy from Rangers early in the 2023-24 season.

Mandey made his first-team debut for Albion late on as a substitute in their final game of the 2025-26 Championship season, in what was only James Morrison's second defeat in 12 games after taking charge in late February.

The Austria Under-21 international is understood to have turned down the offer of a new contract.

Albion have negotiated a sell-on clause as part of the deal.

After keeping his side in the second tier, Morrison's men start the new season with an EFL Cup first-round tie at Rotherham United this Saturday, before beginning their league campaign with an opening-day trip to Norwich City.

Remember, this is your West Bromwich Albion page so bookmark it, or if you're on the BBC Sport app or signed in on a browser, hit 'Follow' to add it to your MySport and get more news, analysis, stats and fan views - and also select the bell icon in the app to sign up for club notifications.

Dan Wheeler
BBC Sport

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West Bromwich Albion have signed Norway midfielder Felix Horn Myhre on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old, capped six times by his country, joins the Baggies from Norwegian top-flight side SK Brann to become head coach James Morrison's sixth major signing of the summer.

Myhre brings experience of playing in the Europa League, helping Brann reach the knockout stages of the competition last season and has also featured in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa Conference League.

He has been linked with the move to Albion for a few weeks and said conversations with Morrison gave him a "really good vision for the club", external and that he saw a "lot of potential" with the squad.

Myhre will join his Norway - and former Brann - team-mate Aune Heggebo, at The Hawthorns and follows forward Jimmy-Jay Morgan, defender Conor Townsend, goalkeeper Matt Ingram and striker Barney Stewart in signing for the new season.

Former Liverpool defender Carter Pinnington, 19, also joined the club's youth set-up in June.

Remember, this is your West Bromwich Albion page so bookmark it, or if you're on the BBC Sport app or signed in on a browser, hit 'Follow' to add it to your MySport and get more news, analysis, stats and fan views - and also select the bell icon in the app to sign up for club notifications.