Baggies frustrated by transfer dealings

West Brom chairman John Williams has defended the club's record in the summer transfer window and admits they missed out on a record signing for 'footballing reasons'.

The Baggies spent £22.5million on new players during the window with Nacer Chadli, Matt Phillips and Brendan Galloway all moving to the Hawthorns before deadline day.

Hal Robson-Kanu arrived on a free transfer along Allan Nyom from Watford on deadline day but it has emerged that the club were on the verge of making a record signing only for the deal to fall through.

Manager Tony Pulis had targeted five new signings during the window and, while he brought in that number of players, Williams has intimated that his 'selective and particular' approach cost them.

In a statement on the club's website, Williams said: "Our head coach Tony Pulis is very selective and particular about the players he recruits so it follows that the new team members will add significantly to his first-team options. Tony wanted five and we got five.

"That having been said, the one disappointment we suffered was not being able to add a further quality midfield player.

"We were a long way down the road with a deal, which for the second time in the window would have broken the club transfer record, thanks to the ongoing support of Jeremy Peace and Guochuan Lai.

"But it was decided for footballing reasons not to pursue this. Despite it being late in the window, we decided to pursue another high-quality target. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the deal over the line.

"However, it does mean we can re-group if a suitable new deal presents itself in January when we will be ready to act.

"It has been an extremely difficult market, but we've ticked some of our boxes."

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