Rating every signing West Brom have made so far this summer - including former Liverpool man
West Brom have added three players to their side so far this summer
West Brom fans have just a week longer to wait until the start of the new Championship season as they prepare to host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 9 August. It marks the first game of the Ryan Mason era at the Hawthorns and the former Tottenham Hotspur coach will hope to get off to the best possible start by picking up three points against a Blackburn team that flirted with the play-offs for large chunks of last season.
West Brom are yet to make many major changes to their squad under Mason but have dipped into the transfer market with three first team additions, including two defenders and one centre forward. Baggies fans will hope for a further injection of quality before the season stars to give them an improved chance of promotion. But based on the signings so far how has Mason fared in his first transfer window? Here we rate each West Brom signing and how we think they’ll fare next term.
West Brom’s defensive signings
Nat Phillips: signed from Liverpool (7/10): West Brom have added experienced central defender Nat Phillips to their team for a reported fee of around £3m, according to The Athletic. The 28-year-old offers real Championship experience after playing 32 games during a loan spell at Derby County and has also had loan spells at Cardiff City and Bournemouth in the past while winning promotion with the latter. He should slot in nicely to the backline and is expected to be a real leader next term.
George Campbell: signed from Montreal (6.5/10): West Brom have also strengthened their centre-back options with the signing of 24-year-old George Campbell for a reported fee of around £1m. He arrives as a bit more of an unknown quantity in comparison to Nat Phillips but was rated highly during his time in the MLS, with US transfer guru Jeremy Peterman has posting on X: “Campbell is physically ready for the Championship and adds another dimension to WBA’s CB room: outstanding ball-carrying. He instantly becomes the most progressive CB that the Baggies have at their disposal. Great pickup, expecting fee to be in the £1M range.” It may well be a real genuine bargain but at this stage it’s hard to judge.
West Brom’s attacking signings
Aune Heggebø: signed from Brann (7/10): Aune Heggebø arrives from Bran after scoring seven goals in 13 matches this term. He’s got an overall record of 64 goals in 184 matches over the course of his career and has represented Norway at Under-21 level. He has the potential to be a strong signing he has cost the club around £4.75m which is a sizable fee at this level.
Sporting Director Andrew Nestor said: “Reinforcing our striker options was a top priority going into this summer, so we are pleased to have secured Aune’s signing.It’s advantageous to have completed this transfer now as it has allowed him to immediately join the team in Austria for our pre-season training camp.Aune is a young, mentally strong talent with the technical and physical attributes that we were seeking to add to the squad, as well as complementing our existing attacking options.”