'Fans should be encouraged by Baggies overhaul'

Slowly but surely, Albion are methodically revamping their squad, and it already looks vastly different to the one that owners Bilkul inherited when they took over the club 18 months ago.

That team performed beyond expectations and reached the 2023-24 play-offs under Carlos Corberan. It was also an ageing side, as they ended the campaign with 11 players aged 30 or over and a bloated wage bill.

With the dual necessity of reducing those wages and a desire to target young potential, the Baggies now have only a trio of players in their 30s – club captain Jed Wallace, midfielder Alex Mowatt and back-up striker Devante Cole, who incidentally are all out of contract at the end of this season.

Of course, every squad needs experience, and the Baggies have added that this summer, with Nat Phillips and Krystian Bielik, who are 28 and 27 respectively, but just this week Albion have highlighted the benefit of finding untapped talent. With a sell-on clause included, they could make a minimum £9m profit on Torbjorn Heggem (pictured), following the Norwegian's move to Italian side Bologna, 13 months after he was plucked from the Swedish top flight for under £600,000.

That sale is a massive help to the club's continuing wrestling match with profit and sustainability rules and hopefully protects other assets, such as academy product Tom Fellows and midfielder Isaac Price - in this window at least - as the Northern Ireland international will at some point be the next example of a player who eventually moves on for a huge profit. The 21-year-old is that good and will only get better.

However, when I asked head coach Ryan Mason about this process, he was keen to point out that it isn't the exact model, but rather "the context of our current situation" and to help them be "better placed" in the future.

Albion certainly have their eyes on that future. Sporting director Andrew Nestor, who leads on recruitment, is not only planning for the remainder of this transfer window but also the next one and even the one after that.

While the work is far from done, fans should be encouraged by the squad turnover that's taking place. However the difficulty remains doing it while attempting to get out of one of the most competitive divisions in European football.