Comment: Does Darren Moore have a squad strong enough to take West Brom up?

Last year, the Baggies were widely heralded for having one of the shrewdest summers in the top tier, but it turned out they had splurged £40million on players that left the squad unbalanced and the season ended in relegation.

It really takes six months, if not a year, to judge business appropriately because at this embryonic stage, players are yet to settle, and the team has not taken shape.

But one thing’s for sure in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s loan window shutting – the real deadline in the Football League – Albion’s business this summer has been the polar opposite to last year’s splurge.

Chief executive Mark Jenkins was brought back onto the board by Chinese owner Guochuan Lai to oversee the financial downsizing relegation would require, and there’s no doubt he has done that.

Albion have made £7m in profit from sales this window thanks to the £10m sale of Nacer Chadli this week.

When that money arrives they will be able to move out of the overdraft taken earlier this year – the club’s first in more than 10 years.

The club’s wage bill has been slashed significantly from around £85m to just £38m thanks to relegation reductions for all players and top earners like Ben Foster, Jonny Evans, and Chadli leaving.

The Baggies have signed eight players in total, but have paid cash for just three of them, with two of them arriving on free transfers and three more on loan.

They’ve lost seven the other way, having released two, sold four, and loaned out Salomon Rondon.

In terms of like for like replacements, Sam Johnstone has big boots to fill, but he’s 10 years Ben Foster’s junior and has better knees than the new Watford keeper.

If his man of the match performance against Norwich is anything to go by, his shot-stopping could be just as sharp.

His distribution is better, and while he may not yet command his area as well as Foster, that can be developed.

Dwight Gayle looks like an improvement on Salomon Rondon, certainly at this level anyway, and the speedy, spirited striker has lived up to the hype so far.

Harvey Barnes appears to be an upgrade on James McClean, having scored two league goals from five games in the Championship so far. McClean managed four in 99 Premier League appearances for the Baggies.

But the jury is still out on the back-line, where Kyle Bartley and Tosin Adarabioyo are struggling to emerge from the long shadows left by Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans.

Adarabioyo is only 20, playing in his first season of senior football, and Bartley spent a lot of last season injured, so they do deserve time.

It’s worth noting the backline has much less protection in front of them this season too, considering Darren Moore’s front-foot approach sometimes leaves them more exposed, and they are also getting to grips with a three-man defence.

But that area of the pitch has looked shaky so far, and with just four centre-backs at the club, the back three that Moore is choosing to play looks vulnerable to injury.

However, it is Albion’s dependency on loan signings that is perhaps the most worrying aspect of this summer’s business.

Barnes, Gayle and Adarabioyo are only at The Hawthorns temporarily. Hopefully, Albion’s stay in the Championship is a temporary one too, and they can add more numbers next summer safe in the knowledge of that TV money coming in.

Who knows, those three players may even want to stay in the Black Country permanently by then.

But you cannot guarantee that, and taking Barnes as an example, it is somewhat fanciful to think Leicester City will sell one of their homegrown talents next year if he enjoys a breakout season in the Championship.

It’s worth saying that at least two, if not all three of those players would have only come to The Hawthorns on loan, but the concern is that it lacks forward planning.

Although it was necessary to claw back some of the money lost last season, so many loans could end up doing the Baggies damage further down the line when the squad is in desperate need of permanent additions.

The positive thing is that Albion are not gambling the house on promotion, like Aston Villa and Newcastle have done in the past.

They have also unearthed some gems. As well as the exciting Barnes, Conor Townsend looks a snip at £750,000, and has been unfortunate not to feature more.

Only time will tell whether Albion have gone too far the other way and been too prudent compared to others.

Chadli’s £10m move to Monaco came late in the day, and the Baggies were unable to reinvest that money.

It gives the club a chance to strengthen again in January if needed but hopefully they will not be too far behind the promotion pacesetters by then.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much is or isn’t spent, so long as the club is solvent and the squad is strong enough to mount a push for promotion.

There are areas that could and should have been strengthened more this summer, most notably at centre-back and central midfield.

The Baggies have lots of experience and youth in the engine room, but only Jake Livermore is in the prime of his career.

It is the same issue at No.10 where they have Barnes and James Morrison at either end of their respective journeys.

Despite that, Albion do still have a squad capable of going up.

Their attack is one of the strongest in the division, they have a goalkeeper who kept 22 clean sheets in this tier last season, options in midfield, and a back-line that should be better than it’s shown so far.

Now the window is shut – and for good this time– it’s time to see what sort of tune Moore and his coaching staff can get out of them.