Express & Star

Josh Maja insists 'ambitions match' with West Brom

A short conversation with Carlos Corberan was all Josh Maja needed to convince him to sign for West Brom.

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The 24-year-old penned a three-year deal at The Hawthorns on Tuesday following the expiration of his contract at French club Bordeaux.

The striker, who has had spells with Sunderland, Fulham and Stoke City, was subject to interest from a handful of EFL clubs this summer.

But speaking to the club's website, he revealed a short conversation with Corberan was all that was required to persuade him to sign for the Baggies.

He said: "Last year was probably the best year of my career in terms of consistency, goals and game time, so yeah, I would say it was a great experience overall.

“However, I felt like I needed a fresh start just because I had been away from the United Kingdom for a while. I spent four-and-a-half years in France.

“We knew Albion were one of the clubs interested in me and our ambitions seemed to match quite well.

“The conversation I had with Carlos Corberán was short. I’ve only spoken to him once, but that’s probably all I needed.

“I got a really good energy from him. He’s a serious coach with intense ideas and an intense mentality which is something that matches up with me and my values.

“He’s a football head, which I am as well.

“I’m hoping to learn a lot from him and to perform well. I’ve heard a lot of great things from team-mates from the past who have said good things about him."

Maja arrives at the club on the back of an impressive campaign in Ligue 2, scoring 16 times in 38 appearances for Bordeaux.

And he is hoping to do the same at Albion, along with showing the fans a string of other attributes he possesses.

He added: "I’m someone that is hardworking, which is something I’ve had in me since I was really young. I’ve used that attribute all my life and I’d like to think it’s one of the main factors in why my career is where it is now.

“You’re going to get a lot of energy, a lot of goals, a lot of assists and an all-round performance from me.

“I’m not just a guy that brings goals, I want to be able to perform well every game, support my team-mates in the best ways possible and do what my coaches have asked of me.

“I want to make the fans proud.

“Scoring goals is always fun and winning games is always fun. I’m hoping to do plenty of that this year with Albion.”