West Brom sign £2m right-back and Atletico Madrid gem in exciting new January transfer window prediction
West Bromwich Albion are looking to turn around a disappointing season in the January transfer window
Unsurprisingly given the upheaval of the summer, it’s been a poor season for West Bromwich Albion so far and the January transfer window is the first chance to really try and turn that around, now under the stewardship of Eric Ramsay.
Languishing within range of the relegation zone and below Birmingham City, Ramsay’s first order of business will be securing West Brom’s survival in the Championship before he can think about turning his gaze upwards and returning to the promotion race in future seasons. The Baggies could do with upgrades in so many areas as 29 players have departed since the end of last season, though Ramsay has far from a blank cheque to work with in the transfer market.
So to see who could be arriving at the Hawthorns, we fired up Football Manager 26 and simmed to the end of the transfer window to find out which transfers it predicted.
Host of temporary additions at the Hawthorns
Oliver Sonne - £2 million from Burnley - How much should you pay for a player who can barely get on the field at one of the worst clubs in the Premier League? Sonne started for Burnley on the opening day of the season but Kyle Walker’s arrival curtailed his gametime and the Peruvian has only played 62 minutes in the top flight since August.
Yet having just turned 25, there’s plenty of time for Sonne to find his feet in English football, and a transfer fee of this size would see The Baggies slightly undercut what Burnley paid for him. Born in Denmark, he’s been capped 13 times by Peru who failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but racked up plenty of minutes playing in Scandinavia.
Yunus Konak - loan from Brentford - Brentford loanees have had a mixed record in the Championship in recent seasons - Jayden Meghoma shone for Preston North End last season but Myles Peart-Harris didn’t hit the same heights for Swansea. So The Baggies would hope for Konak would fall into the first camp as he’s predicted to arrive to shore up their midfield for the remainder of this season.
Brentford obviously have a good eye for talent overall and Konak has played for the senior team - though this season his two appearances total just three minutes plus stoppage time. He was slightly more trusted by Thomas Frank and got some Premier League action last season, and it makes sense that The Bees are willing to let him go under Keith Andrews.
Harrison Ashby - loan from Newcastle United - Another loanee from the Premier League, Ashby was part of West Ham United’s glorious Conference League campaign in 2022/23, though his career has certainly stalled since then.
He switched from east London to the north-east of England after that season in a deal worth up to £3m, and doesn’t look like he will live up to that price tag. Ashby has never played for The Magpies, instead spending time in their age-group sides and on loan at Swansea and Queen’s Park Rangers.
The latter was his most successful spell but he’s failed to back it up this season and this would be a fairly uninspiring signing by West Brom in all truth.
Diego Bri - loan from Atletico Madrid - Definitely raw, the 22-year-old is yet to make his senior debut for Atletico Madrid but has made almost a century of appearances for their B team. He’s been limited to cameos from the bench this season on loan at Cordoba in LaLiga2 but has scored once from only 107 minutes - a decent strike rate.
Finally, Park Yong-woo from Al-Ain would bring experience to West Brom’s backline though the history of arrivals from the UAE Pro League succeeding in the top echelons of English football is a rather short one. And rounding out the window is the only Latvian player you’ve ever heard of - Danni Anisjko on loan from Nottingham Forest.
No permanent departures from Albion
Ollie Bostock - loan to Harrogate Town - After so many exit interviews in the summer, it’s a rather more subdued transfer window in that regard this time around according to the prediction.
Bostock departs for Yorkshire on loan to try and help The Sulphurites avoid relegation, while Dan Chimeziri is also set for a basement battle in the National League, at Sutton United.
There are three more loans predicted: Michael Parker to Boston United, Evan Humphries to Farnborough and Muhamed Diomande (who arguably gets the pick of the destinations) heading to Rimini FC on Italy’s Adriatic coast.