West Brom reopen talks to sign £750k-rated Championship stalwart following Preston rejection

The Baggies are reportedly set to offer £500,000 to Preston for experienced striker Will Keane after seeing a previous proposal rejected.

Football Insider claims Albion have decided to reopen talks to sign the Manchester United academy product as Carlos Corberan seeks to add depth at centre-forward.

West Brom are severely limited with their spending power for the last few days of the transfer window but have a little budget remaining. The £2.25 million sale of Brandon Thomas-Asante to Coventry City earlier this month added to the kitty, as did the further £2 million raised from Okay Yokuslu and Conor Townsend’s departures.

Keane, now 31 years of age and with just 10 months left on his Preston contract, has been identified as a potential low-cost signing. The ex-Ipswich Town attacker scored 13 goals and made three assists in 38 Championship games last campaign after signing from Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee.

Five times a Republic of Ireland international, Keane was prolific for the Latics throughout a three-year spell at the DW Stadium. The target man scored 36 goals in 76 League One matches for Wigan before netting 12 times in 43 Championship matches after achieving promotion.

Corberan already has recent hat-trick hero Josh Maja and Devante Cole on the books at West Brom, while the injury-struck Daryl Dike will eventually be an option. If push came to shove, Tom Fellows and Karlan Grant could theoretically move infield too - but Corberan would prefer to acquire another out-and-out number nine.

Keane, who has a current market value of around £750,000 according to Transfermarkt, certainly fits the bill. It just awaits to be seen if Preston will be willing to let him depart with such few days remaining in the window to source a replacement.