Baggies wait on Barnett deal

Albion hope to sell Leon Barnett in the next few days to help fund their own transfer window plans.

Coventry want to keep the central defender but other clubs have also expressed an interest with the former Luton man surplus to requirements at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies hope to secure a permanent sale before the closure of the window on Monday but should they fail Barnett is likely to remain on loan at the Ricoh Arena for the rest of the season.

He has already made 11 appearances for the Sky Blues since joining at the start of November.

"We've had some interest for Leon," for head coach Roberto Di Matteo.

"Nothing has been sealed yet but there are ongoing talks.

"We are in talks with a number of players. The transfer window is closing shortly.

"We're in talks with a number of clubs and players to bring in maybe one or two new faces and maybe get one or two new faces out."

A number of Championship clubs have enquired but Sheffield United are not thought likely to press ahead with a bid despite expressing an earlier interest.

Albion's top target remains Crystal Palace with the club having lodged a verbal bid for the 19-year-old.

But Di Matteo has insisted they will not pay over the odds.

He said: "There is no new news about that.

"People knew we had some interest in him.

"It just depends if someone else comes in that is bidding higher.

"You want to sign a player for the right price.

"You don't want to be over-paying because it's the January transfer window.

"Sometime they might ask you for a premium.

"If we feel it's the right price for him it's a possibility, otherwise we leave it up to other people to deal with it."

Di Matteo admitted Albion's interest in Hamilton midfielder James McArthur is "probably dead at the moment."

And the Hawthorns boss again insisted full-back Marek Cech is not for sale despite persistent stories in France of interest from Rennes.

Di Matteo said: "There is nothing new to say from last week to be honest.

"We haven't had anything official, we're not in negotiations.

"So, we're at the same point as we were last week."