00:00Baggies fans, welcome to ExpressTheStar.com here on a busy transfer deadline day. I'll
00:13be looking to do business. Names going in and out at the Hawthorns. We'll have all the
00:19news analysis and reaction for you throughout the day. But I'm here with Lewis Cox because
00:23there's been a bit of Baggies news this morning. We're going to rattle through it in the next
00:26three or four minutes just to cover what's gone on so far and what could potentially
00:29happen before the 11pm deadline. Coxie, let's start with maybe the shocking one for Albion
00:37fans. I want to come out of the blue. Alex Palmer off to Ipswich, £5 million. Reports
00:42elsewhere it was £2 million. We're pretty sure it's going to be £5 million. On the
00:47face of it, a blow, but probably business-wise a pretty good deal for Albion.
00:55Yeah, the deal for Palmer is worth up to £5 million. Now obviously that won't all be initial
00:59up front, but there's none of this £2 million being reported elsewhere up front business.
01:06The figure is, as we've reported, up to £5 million. Yeah, really out of the blue. Really
01:13surprising one. I had the impression that there could be exits today. We'll get on to
01:19it. But we've talked about another senior player so far today that has been linked and
01:25there could be something there. But Palmer wasn't really on the radar today, was he?
01:30Obviously first-choice goalkeeper, made over 100 appearances now for the club he grew up
01:35with. Had to bide his time, wait his chance. And a move to the Premier League, no less.
01:41Come next weekend or the weekend after, whenever Ipswich are next in action, Alex Palmer could
01:46be there, playing a massive role in keeping them up.
01:49Good business. Let's not forget the financial fair play, PSR rules, where an academy graduate
01:57like Palmer, who essentially cost nothing, he was bought in for free because he was an
02:02academy kid. That's a pure profit with him. So good business. I'm happy for Palmer. It's
02:09a good move for him. I can understand fans have been a little shocked, a little surprised.
02:13But Josh Griffiths coming back, as we've said, from Bristol Rovers, where he's done
02:16very well. And a huge opportunity now for Griffiths, who's rated very highly.
02:22In terms of an incoming, it emerged pretty quickly this morning. Albion fans were seeing
02:27that you mentioned they're in for an attacking midfielder. That attacking midfielder looks
02:31to be Tamer Baney from Randers in Denmark, only being at the club a matter of months.
02:42He was brought in from a Danish first division team. He's impressed. Linked with some other
02:45big clubs, big clubs in France, big clubs in, well, a big club in Scotland, in Celtic.
02:51Albion look to have won the race. Coxsey, we don't know a great deal about him. It looks
02:55like the deal is going to go over the line. But another kind of sizable investment from
02:59Bill Cole in a player for the here and now and for the future.
03:03Yeah. You mean to say we're not regular viewers of the Danish Super League, Johnny? No, no.
03:08Some of the first things that came out were memories of another Danish forward signing
03:13for the club not that long ago. But I don't think we need to go there, do we? Yeah, really
03:18intrigued. We reported this morning that Albion, the position they were looking to fill, was
03:22an attacking midfielder. That kind of position really you'd relate to a bit of a Dean Garner
03:26or John Swift. So really looking for better or more quality competition there. I've never
03:33seen this lad play. Banny, Banny. But his profile is really interesting. His rise, as
03:38you've said, to come up through the levels there. I believe he's Palestinian, isn't he?
03:42Palestinian-Danish dual nationality. The fact he's come up through the levels there made
03:46an immediate impact in the top flight there over a few months. And he's being courted
03:51now widely by bigger clubs, leagues in Europe, as you say, France, Belgium, obviously Celtic,
03:57who are looking to replace Kyogo, weren't they? And he's clearly got something about
04:02it. From little video clips I've seen, little write-ups, he's sort of a diminutive, small
04:07number 10, creative midfielder, low centre of gravity. And that guy really feels like
04:13something Albion, to me, something Albion have been lacking in those areas. Somebody
04:18can thread a pass, maybe nick a goal. So it'll be interesting to see what contract he signs
04:22when the deal goes through. But yeah, three and a half million quid, as you say, that
04:27player trade model now, that's buy for good value, low age profile, like we've seen at
04:32Isaac Price, this lad, we'll Lancashire on loan and develop them, bear the fruits, and
04:38hopefully make a profit, a big profit in the future. That's what we've seen at the start
04:43of that Bill Gould model.
04:46There has been a little bit of chatter about Adam Armstrong. He is someone who has probably
04:50been continually linked with Albion over a number of windows. He's obviously been out
04:54of their reach for a while now. Albion have already bought in a centre forward. I'm sure
04:58Tony Mowbray wouldn't turn down another one if a deal materialised, especially for one
05:03who he's had so much success with in the past. Is there anything in that, Cox, or is it a
05:08case of wait and see?
05:10Well, if we find out there is, then certainly the readers and viewers will be the first
05:14to know. I mean, yeah, he's perennially linked, isn't he? And given now Tony Mowbray's back
05:20at the Hawthorns, absolutely zero surprise that Adam Armstrong is linked again. Obviously
05:25on the periphery really, isn't he? For the Premier League saying he's not really playing
05:29much, he's... Look, for me, and it's just my opinion, it would be a game changer really
05:35this month, this window, where Albion able to nab him in a late deadline day move alone.
05:39It really would. You feel like you absolutely guaranteed goals, don't you? He scored in
05:44the playoffs last season, didn't he? Against the Baggies in the final as well, I believe
05:48from memory, just an absolute goalscorer at this level. I think just because Albion have
05:52got Lancashire in from Spurs on Friday night, Will Lancashire, I don't see that they wouldn't
05:58do something again if it was perfect, if they could make it work. I don't necessarily think
06:02by any means that, as we're talking at this point of the early afternoon, that Albion
06:06had done for incomings, certainly. But when a prospect, when an attraction like him is
06:11potentially on the market, I think I've seen Sunderland and Middlesbrough linked within
06:15today. Obviously, rivals of Albion currently for the promotion stakes, aren't they? Then
06:22why wouldn't Albion really be there and use, if they could, that Mowbray trump card to
06:27get him? Someone like a Sunderlander getting Jadon Danzin from Liverpool, aren't they?
06:31A top prospect from the Premier League who Albion might have had a look at. So, yeah,
06:35I mean, if Albion could make Armstrong work, it would be a huge statement, absolutely huge
06:40one.
06:41Elsewhere, outgoings. There was a little bit of chatter over the weekend about Carlan
06:46Grant. It seems that there is interest in him. He's been a very good player for Albion
06:52this season, but he doesn't seem to be at the forefront of Tony Mowbray's mind. Talk
06:56of Burnley being interested permanently, which we believe is a little bit wider the mark,
07:01but certainly low interest. Is that the case, Coxey?
07:04Yeah, yeah. Burnley did like him and had a look, but I was told this morning that deal
07:09isn't on, despite having to think about it. But I heard the name Derby County as a championship
07:15rival. A bit of a struggle, aren't they? They're in woeful form. I believe they haven't won
07:19since they beat Albion on Boxing Day, have they? But they like him and you can see why,
07:24can't you, immediately. I mean, if you're a Derby or any championship struggler and
07:28the first half of the season, Carlan Grant said, if he potentially becomes available
07:31on the market, they're absolutely all over it. And you can see why. From an Albion perspective,
07:37it's a bit of an unusual one, isn't it? I don't see it. It's not a case as far as I'm
07:41led to believe, or my reading of it, that Carlan Grant's now on the scrappy, you know,
07:45and Tony Mowbray has no interest in using him or he won't be used again. Far from it.
07:49Obviously, Carlan Grant wants to play, but I think we should, you know, he started the
07:52Bury game, Mowbray's first game. He's only had two games out of the side. Yes, Mowbray's
07:57been quoted saying that Mikey Johnson on the left is sort of the star man at the moment
08:02and all of that. But I'm not sure how much I put into that, really. I mean, Carlan Grant
08:06hasn't been playing on the left of late. He's been playing in one of the front two roles.
08:10So not really Johnson keeping him out the side. It's what Jed Wallace and Grady Dean
08:15Garner. Okay, now I suppose you look at it that Will Lancashire's through the door. Tam
08:21Bainey is through the door, going through the door. So look, there are two more options
08:26for Grant to contend with. We were just talking about, you know, Armstrong or whoever else
08:30Albion might try to do. Okay, then look, if something happens later in the day, maybe
08:35you're thinking if you're Grant, if you're Albion, okay, maybe a loan could make a saving
08:40on Carlan Grant's salary for the rest of the season. Or if you're Grant, you're thinking
08:44maybe I'm a couple more down a pecking order now and I want to go and play type thing.
08:49But I don't think it's the, you know, the end or the scrappy, like I mentioned at all.
08:53Just think it's circumstance of Mowbray's reading at this early stage of how he's assessing
08:57his squad. For me, Johnson's flying at the moment. Yes. Okay. They're not in direct competition,
09:03they're left-sided attackers, aren't they? So yeah, an interesting one-on-one maybe to
09:08keep an eye on as the day goes. But as it stood when I reported it an hour or so ago
09:12and now, I don't think he's set for the exit door. But anything can happen on deadline
09:17day, can't it, Jonny?
09:18It certainly can. The only other little bit I've got written down here is his potential
09:23young loans going out. Oli Bostock and Harry Whitwell have been reportedly catching the
09:28eyes of EFL clubs. Do we expect them to go before the deadline?
09:31Yeah, it'll be interesting. I mean, not clear at the moment. Last word I had on Harry Whitwell
09:37was unlikely. Obviously, he was in the squad down in Plymouth. But maybe that was as a
09:45result of Rakic. You know, Rakic is going back, that's a centre midfielder down. Whitwell
09:49would now be a very viable bench option. But obviously, as we've said, Albon have brought
09:53players in today. So I know for a fact that a League Two club were strong in for Whitwell.
10:01A couple of weekends ago, I think when Albon were playing Portsmouth and talks were really
10:05on there. But didn't quite happen at that time. Now, I wasn't told for definite that
10:11it was off for good. So whether said club will come back and maybe there are other lower
10:17league, League One, League Two's that are having a look at him and might use the opportunity
10:20to pounce on deadline day, should Albon allow it, that will be an interesting one. Whitwell,
10:24you know, 19-year-old needs that first loan, doesn't he? I think at some stage to go and
10:29taste men's football. Oli Bostock feels like the jewel in the crown of it at the moment,
10:33doesn't he? Still 17, I don't think 18 until at some point in February. He's flying at
10:39the moment for the 21s, isn't he? The goal he scored in the FA Youth Cup the other day.
10:43I haven't run some air of the quotes yet, but we spoke to Tony Mowbray about him at
10:47the end of last week. And Tony Mowbray is very much aware of young Oli Bostock. So yeah,
10:53that'll be one to keep an eye on because, like I say, he's a year or two behind Whitwell.
10:57So I don't think a loan is as maybe as needed for him, but clearly no surprise were there
11:03to be lower league interest in him because he looks at a proper talent. And one I've
11:09been very much excited about was emphasis on the youth at the minute, isn't it? I mentioned
11:12that Josh Griffiths at the very top coming back in from that Bristol Rovers loan. And
11:17as far as I can remember in this role, and I know before I even moved into baggage correspondent,
11:22Josh Griffiths has been the keeper talked about as the prospect. You know, this is the
11:26one we have really high hopes for. Obviously, Alex Palmer came in and has had two or three
11:30seasons outstanding work as number one, really. And I'm a huge fan of it. But it feels like
11:36now it feels like Josh Griffiths' time. He was quoted earlier this season, wasn't he?
11:40As I've got a decision to make really about my future. I need to be number one somewhere,
11:44be it at Albion, be it elsewhere. And it looks like the door's open for Josh Griffiths. Well,
11:50it has, should Palmer pass his medical at Portman Road.
11:57I'm sure we all hope it goes well. And there's certainly confidence it will in him that it
12:01will at the Hawthorns.
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