West Brom ramp up plans for January spending
Albion are stepping up their pursuit of targets ahead of January as they aim to hit the ground running at the start of the transfer window.
Anthony Modeste, FC Koln's 28-year-old striker, has been linked with the club, and Adrien Silva, Sporting Lisbon's 27-year-old midfielder, is another attacking player on Tony Pulis's radar.
According to reports the Baggies also plan to return to Leeds United with another offer for left-back Charlie Taylor, who they tried to buy in the summer.
Having failed to land key targets last window, Albion still have cash from the summer as well as further funds from new owner Guochuan Lai, whose £175million takeover was completed last month.
Under former chairman Jeremy Peace, there was a reluctance to do business in January, and last season, only Sandro and Alex Pritchard joined on loan.
This season though the Baggies are hoping to bring in one or two permanent additions.
Modeste is currently top scorer in the Bundesliga with eight goals for FC Koln, but he's believed to be keen for a move to the Premier League.
The Baggies are in desperate need of a new striker this January. Now that Saido Berahino is out of action on a personal fitness programme, Pulis only has two options up front in Salomon Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu.
Silva was linked with Albion and Leicester in the summer, but Sporting would like £15million for the attacking midfielder, which may put the Baggies off considering they have already plugged that gap with Nacer Chadli.
Taylor's contract at Leeds is up at the end of the season, and the 23-year-old full-back is eager to leave Elland Road.
He handed in a transfer request in the summer in order to force a move but it was rejected by volatile Leeds chairman Massimo Cellino.
However, the Baggies hope the prospect of losing Taylor for free in the summer will force Cellino's hand this time around.
Pulis is still eager to sign a left-back with neither Brendan Galloway nor Allan Nyom convincing in that role after joining the club in the summer. Everton loanee Galloway is traditionally a centre-half and deadline day signing Nyom is a right-back.
The Baggies boss would also prefer to use Chris Brunt, who played left-back for the majority of last season, in a midfield role where he has impressed since his return from injury.
