West Brom are yet to decide on whether or not they want to sign free agent duo Wes Hoolahan and Russell Martin, according to Express & Star reporter Matt Wilson.
The reliable journalist claimed via his personal Twitter account on Thursday morning that neither of the former Norwich players have been training with the Baggies squad this week as Darren Moore prepares for Friday’s West Midlands showdown with Birmingham at St Andrew’s.
not been training this week because DM wants no distractions in prep for Blues. Been checking regularly this week and told no decision as of yet. Seeing Moore this morning so will hopefully get a better idea.
— Matt Wilson (@mattianwilson) September 13, 2018
Football Insider has recently reported that West Brom are close to signing Hoolahan, who has over 200 appearances in the Championship and 43 Republic of Ireland caps to his name.
The same news outlet has also claimed that Scotland international Martin is in line to sign for the Black Country club, who was released by Norwich on deadline day after making 308 appearances for the East Anglia side.
OPINION
West Brom did not end the transfer window well and their squad is looking quite light at the moment unless Darren Moore wants to use more of his youth players to pad out his first team. However with highly-rated youngster like Sam Field struggling to appear in the league, it seems like Moore is only willing to use proven senior players to help get the Baggies back in the Premier League. And due to him having such a small selection of those kinds of players, it means that they are likely to be over-played this season and suffer injuries and fatigue. Hoolahan will be a very clever addition if the Baggies can sign him. He is by no means a world beater but he is very experienced and Norwich fans would have him back in a heartbeat. Martin wasn’t amazing on loan at Rangers last season, but as a back-up option that could make the odd appearance, he isn’t terrible.