Shilen Patel: West Brom performing 'better than expected' in key area

Bilkul and Shilen Patel's takeover was completed just after the 2024 January transfer window - with last summer's window being the first under their stewardship.

Immediately there was a shift in Albion's strategy, with young and unknown foreign talent such as Ousmane Diakite and Torbjorn Heggem arriving at the club.

There were also marquee signings, with Mikey Johnston's loan move from Celtic made permanent for £3m.

The astute business in the transfer market continued in January, with Albion again investing in young players with the arrivals of Isaac Price and Tammer Bany.

And they utilised the loan market for youth and experience, bringing in Will Lankshear and Adam Armstrong.

Alongside this outgoings have also been a big factor in their strategy, with a number of players such as Alex Palmer, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Okay Yokuslu all moved on for fees in the last year.

The dealings in the transfer market, and the work of sporting director Andrew Nestor and head of football operations Ian Pearce have impressed their boss - who believes the club has exceeded expectations in the transfer department.

Speaking on the first anniversary of his takeover, Patel said: "I think we’ve done a really good job, in fact probably better than I would’ve projected in terms of progressing towards our long-term goals. 

"We understand there are a couple of goals with the squad. 

"One is to build the squad with a younger average age, one that has more peak years and potential ahead of it. The other is that we need to work to solve the financial challenges and to be compliant with PSR (profit and sustainability). 

"I think that on both fronts, the player movement has been very helpful to us. 

"The players who have departed I think have helped us in terms of improving our financial outlook and the players who have come in, generally are profiling as players that have a lot of future potential, players who can help carry us forward competitively and ultimately we understand that the reality of the Championship is that it can be a transition point for a lot of high quality players that are on their way to Premier League competition either with us or through a sale to another club. 

"So, I think that we’ve done a really good job. Andrew, Ian, our scouts and everybody have aligned on the types of players we need to bring into the building in order to continue our progress and we’ve done a really good job of expanding the tools and the resources with which we’re finding those players."