[SirTonyM]

I like this signing but wondering if he can bring Neville, Scholes and Butt with him from a time machine...1999.

[Standaman]

This is the sort of deal I am generally happier with than trying squeeze another season out of some tired old has been,  there is a potential upside. However right now from the very limited information I can glean about the player he is not a target man number 9. He isn't going to win many aerial duels and seems to be effective playing on transitional phases of play very similar to Grant in many regards.  If we are in effect swapping Robinson for him I am not sure that carries us very much further forward.

If it is Robinson out plus him and another 2 in that represents progress.

[baggie38]

More than happy to give anyone a chance if they choose to join us. He is 23 plenty of room and time to develop into a decent little player. Salford fans seem genuinely disappointed to see him leave so on that alone it's worth being fair with the lad and giving him a chance to prove himself.

[Groovephil]

The kind of signing I expect Ipswich to be making.

[cads_ap_albion]

I really don't know what kind of players fans expect us to sign.

Personally I would prefer a young hungry striker than a has been on a pay deal.

Our fans kick off when we are linked with Grabban, and then moan when linked with a young kid. We just don't have the money to sign an established championship striker.

Not Robinson's biggest fan but I would have preferred him coming off the bench rather than Phillips.

[gazberg]

BBC reporter Simon Stone

Brandon Thomas Asante deal to @WBA agreed. Had 10 months left on @SalfordCityFC contract. Baggies have met £300k buy-out clause + also agreed a sell-on. Birmingham were also keen but striker has chosen West Brom, who are still looking to bring someone in before the window shuts.

[hardtobeat]

The kind of signing I expect Ipswich to be making.

Look at the tables we aren’t much better off than Ipswich ! Be interesting to know just who you’d sign given our budgetary restrictions?

[johnny Cash]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see him for a while. Is Bruce going to trust a 300k signing from league 2? He might need to get comfortable next to TGH.

[gazberg]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see him for a while. Is Bruce going to trust a 300k signing from league 2? He might need to get comfortable next to TGH.

If that is the case we have we (potentialy) signed him?

[gazberg]

"Elias
@EliasBurke
🚨 As reported elsewhere, Salford City forward Brandon Thomas-Asante looks set to sign for #WBA. 23 y/o forward capable of playing on left of front three or as a central striker. Albion will stay active throughout final hours of the window."

[Baggies]

Unless Robinson is likely to be on the move, then this transfer doesn't really make that much sense. The more you read about him, he is basically a Callum Robinson equivalent, being able to operate around a front 3 but not necessarily a centre forward specialist.

Now it makes some sense if you are sending Robinson out on loan as it would be a direct replacement at a saving (even with the £300k fee, Thomas-Asante is unlikely to be on more than 2k a week at the moment, a few years ago a league 2 player told me that their top earner at the time was on 5k a week so I doubt Thomas-Asante will be on a huge wage when he arrives).

If Robinson doesn't go however, we have just brought in a 4th attacker who operates cutting in from the left and would still need a centre forward. I suppose itbrefreshes our bench options but not sure what else it does.

[tylerm]

I really don't know what kind of players fans expect us to sign.

Personally I would prefer a young hungry striker than a has been on a pay deal.

Our fans kick off when we are linked with Grabban, and then moan when linked with a young kid. We just don't have the money to sign an established championship striker.

Not Robinson's biggest fan but I would have preferred him coming off the bench rather than Phillips.

Totally agree. Our fan base was in uproar when we were linked with Watkins and Toney from Peterborough. Why are we buying from a side in a league below us they moaned. This seems like a no lose option to me.

[OhBilics]

This is the sort of deal I am generally happier with than trying squeeze another season out of some tired old has been,  there is a potential upside.

Same. I'd rather us spend 300k on someone like this than 3M or more on someone whose best days are long past.

However right now from the very limited information I can glean about the player he is not a target man number 9.

That's what I'd noticed too. It seems an odd deal, if it is anything more than just paper-talk, for us at this stage.

I'd love to see it work out though, whatever the thinking.

[zippyandbungle]

"Elias
@EliasBurke
🚨 As reported elsewhere, Salford City forward Brandon Thomas-Asante looks set to sign for #WBA. 23 y/o forward capable of playing on left of front three or as a central striker. Albion will stay active throughout final hours of the window."

I keep saying it
Don’t be surprised if Grady goes

[gazberg]

I keep saying it
Don’t be surprised if Grady goes

I'm hoping that it is more that we don't have to play Reach

[Dan]

At least if nothing else he's an option off the bench with genuine pace, something we sorely lack. There's no one we have to come on to stretch teams.

[smethwickw]

I'm happy with this kind of signing. I just can't see Bruce dropping one of the senior pros for him. Bench warmer at best.

[skyclad99]

Totally agree. Our fan base was in uproar when we were linked with Watkins and Toney from Peterborough. Why are we buying from a side in a league below us they moaned. This seems like a no lose option to me.

From memory the majority of us were in uproar because we didn’t buy Watkins and Toney

[Atomic]

This will be an extremely strange signing if this happens. If this is "one for the future" its wrong on two counts:

1 He's 23 not 18. If he's not good enough for what we need right now then at his age he's unlikely to end up good enough. Yes I know it can happen Jamie Vardy etc but it's unlikely.

2 Regardless of his age its not the type of signing we should be making right now given the position the club is in.

IF he's good enough right now then great, all well and good.

If this signing happens Id like to know who is behind it. It doesn't come across as a Bruce signing. Gourlay? Ian Pearce?

I'm not getting a good vibe.

[jimmyj]

From memory the majority of us were in uproar because we didn’t buy Watkins and Toney

Yeah, there were a lot of voices on here advocating for us buying both of them chaps. I don't remember anyone turning noses up at them at all.
Some of us have been saying for years that we should be fishing in L1 and L2 for the young players to make a step up.

[darbolina]

This signing works if he's an understudy to Grady as a left forward? As a centre forward to come into the team for the period Dike is out (or longer if he's not fully fit this season) it's strange!?

Grant isn't a centre forward and is better as a left forward. Grady is regaining some form as a left forward, why would we need another unless one of Grady or Grant is leaving or unless it's a player we'll keep for a year and then sell on for a profit - so as you say a Gourlay/ Pearce decision rather than a player to use in the team this season?

[tuamigos]

Hope it works out for the kid and hope the wight of expectation isn't too much for him.
When we were looking at a L2 player my mind went back to when we had Simon Cox here

[Baggies]

Totally agree. Our fan base was in uproar when we were linked with Watkins and Toney from Peterborough. Why are we buying from a side in a league below us they moaned. This seems like a no lose option to me.

For the record, I've seen no evidence of uproar at this signing. A couple of negative views in a fan base of thousands is a statistical certainty.

As for the choice of target, people do need to realise there is nuance in the criticism of our transfer strategy. People have been critical of both our poor talent ID and our failure to cast the net far enough. Simply casting the net further doesn't then mean the talent ID part has been corrected as well. It's a start, but not the end goal. Nottingham Forest have bought a ton of players in from abroad over the last few years, most of them were scattergun and not good enough.

Callum Watkins had racked up a hugely impressive number of goals and assists in the 2 years up until his move aged 21 to Brentford. Ivan Toney had racked up just shy of 50 goals in 2 seasons at Peterborough with every semi pro statistical analyst I could find saying he was a slam dunk signing who would absolutely step up to championship and probably premier league level.

Is Thomas-Asante in that category? Well statistically and age profile wise - no. That's not me ruling him out as a success, I don't know how he will get on. My gut says he will be back at a league 1 club on loan in 12-18 months time but that's based on limited information at the moment. It doesn't mean I hate the signing.

I just don't think we can compare him to Toney or Watkins at this stage.

[tlms-p23]

Have had a look at a Salford message board. They seem sad he's leaving and feel like he has kicked on a lot under Neil Wood, the new manager.

All seem to like him, but said he has been frustrating. Poor vision/link up, wayward shooting at times but can make something happen and runs all day.

Much more to a centre-forward's job that scoring goals - pressing, winning the ball in dangerous areas, running channels. All things we need and lack.

[Albionic]

Poor vision/link up, wayward shooting at times but can make something happen and runs all day.

Sounds like venuzelan lad we had a while back, what was his name ..? Perch / gudgeon