West Brom defender Heggem set for £10m Bologna move

Tobjorn Heggem's final game for West Bromwich Albion was the opening-day Championship win over Blackburn

West Brom have accepted a bid in the region of £10m from Italian side Bologna for defender Tobjorn Heggem.

Heggem, 26, was not involved in the Carabao Cup defeat to Derby County on Tuesday.

The Norway international joined the Baggies from Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna last summer and played every game in the Championship during the 2024-25 season.

A sell-on clause has been included in the deal.

Heggem has seven caps for Norway having made his debut in 2024.

Heggem departure a 'huge loss' to Albion - Analysis

BBC WM's West Bromwich Albion reporter Steve Hermon:

The sale of Torbjorn Heggem is clearly a huge loss to the heart of Albion's defence, however it's the best example yet of the recruitment model that's been implemented under the club's owners, Bilkul and led by their Sporting Director Andrew Nestor.

Outside of the club, practically nothing was known about the Norwegian defender when he arrived from Swedish top-flight side, IF Brommpojkarna in June 2024.

He cost under £600k and, fast forward 13 months, Heggem is a Norway international and he's going to be playing in Serie A after sealing a move, worth in the region of £10m.

He was deservedly crowned the Baggies' player of the season after featuring in all but one of their Championship games in the 2024-25 campaign and provided further proof of his credentials with a solid performance for his national team in a 3-0 World-Cup qualifying victory against Italy during the summer - which may have alerted Bologna to his talents, although it's likely he was on their radar already.

A lot has been written about Albion's financial limitations and chairman Shilen Patel reiterated in an open letter in June that the 'realities of profit and sustainability' hadn't gone away and told fans to be 'prepared for the departure of players.'

The huge profit on Heggem will go a long way to helping with that situation and will hopefully mean they don't have to sell other talents such as Tom Fellows and Isaac Price in this transfer window.

Nat Phillips and George Campbell were recruited this summer, and they will likely be the first-choice pairing in the centre of Albion's defence for the lunchtime trip to Wrexham.

Academy product Caleb Taylor also did his claims for a starting place no harm at all with his performance in the Carabao Cup first round against Derby in midweek but it does leave Ryan Mason a little light in defence.

Hopefully, Patel and Nestor have another 'well-vetted talent' up their sleeve before the end of the month.