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West Brom warn Swansea off Nacer Chadli

Albion have warned Swansea City off Nacer Chadli – insisting the Belgian is not for sale despite his bust-up with Tony Pulis.

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Nacer Chadli

The Swans are eyeing up Chadli as a possible replacement for Gylfi Sigurdsson, who is nearing a £48million move to Everton.

Chadli told Pulis he wanted to leave the Baggies in a heated exchange earlier this summer before skipping the club’s gruelling pre-season trip to Austria.

But the Belgian has since patched things up with his head coach, and is no longer agitating for a move.

Pulis is keen to keep the 28-year-old, who still has three years left on his Albion contract, and sees him as an integral part of his plans this season.

And the Welshman doesn’t believe he can afford to lose any more players from his thinly-stretched squad.

Only an offer in excess of £25million would begin to tempt the Baggies, who would also need to have Chadli’s replacement lined up first.

But Pulis is focusing his attention elsewhere at the moment, and is prioritising a central midfielder and a young centre-back this summer.

He retains an interest in both Fabian Delph and Ben Gibson, but remains unable to make a breakthrough with either pursuit.

Although Pulis and the board are eager to bolster the squad, sources at the club don’t predict much activity until the final two weeks of the window.

Once Pulis has found a centre-back and a central midfielder, he will turn his attention to the left-back position and forward options.

The Welshman pulled out of a deal for Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs earlier this summer because he was unhappy with the character references he received for the full-back. And he’s looking for a pacy, versatile forward rather than a target man.

However, Albion are not interested in Leicester City forward Ahmed Musa or Sassualo striker Diego Falcinelli, as reported elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Anderlecht have entered the race to sign Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen.

Albion are interested in the 31-year-old, but would prefer to sign a younger defender without such a chequered injury record.

Tonight’s pre-season friendly with Pep Mel’s Deportivo La Coruna side has been moved back half an hour to an 8.30pm kick-off UK time.