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NEW SIGNINGS
 
The capture of Romalu Lukaku on Friday night took Albion's summer signings to five, following the arrivals of Ben Foster, Yassine El Ghanassy, Claudio Yacob and Markus Rosenberg, Liam Jones takes an in-depth look at the Baggies’ new recruits.
 
Ben Foster
 
Probably Albion's number one target over the summer was to secure the permanent signing of Ben Foster. A firm fans’ favourite and double Player of the Season award winner, Foster equalled the club's clean sheet record in a Premier League season, putting in some great displays. Not many will disagree that he saved and earned Albion points last season, dominant displays against Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Stoke just some of the highlights of his season.

Many Fans were disappointed not to see Foster on the team sheet for the last game of the season against Arsenal at The Hawthorns having played every game of the season up until that point. Foster's presence in that game was truly missed as we all witnessed the Fulop horror show.
 
The permanent deal for Foster was a reported £4 million, which I personally think is a bargain and I would of happily paid a bit more for him.

Foster signed a three year contract which should see him stay at the club at least until the age of 32 with the option of another two years in the club’s favour.
 
Yassine El Ghanassy
 
Only 22 years of age and he's got pace, skill and charisma, well, at least he has on Youtube!
 
Not many Albion fans would have heard of Yassine El Ghanassy before the Baggies signed him but from what I have seen of him he looks a cracking player.

On Tuesday night against Walsall he assisted two goals and got on the scoresheet himself as Albion won 3-1. For the first goal his corner was met by the head of Craig Dawson whilst for the second he displayed something I hope he can show in the Premier League, collecting the ball just inside the Walsall half he ran at the Saddlers' defence with pace and looked untouchable before he knocked a short ball to Saido Berahino who finished nicely to make it two. He rounded off his night when he grabbed the third goal with a tap in after the Walsall keeper had given the ball away to Marc-Antoine Fortuné who set up El Ghanassy for a tap-in.
 
He can play on both wings as well as in a central role. I personally can see him pushing Jerome Thomas for a place in the starting line-up.

El Ghanassy, who once had a trial at Birmigham City, joins on loan from K.A.A Gent with an option to make it a permanent move in Albion's favour at the end of the 2012/13 season.
 
Claudio Yacob
 
The signing of Yacob came as a surprise to me, but personally, along with most Albion fans, I am more than happy with the signing.

The day before Yacob was even linked with the club, Tongo Doumbia, now on loan at Wolves, had reportedly told French media that he had tied up a deal with the Baggies. I therefore was expecting the signing of Doumbia to be announced but news that Albion had pulled out of the deal allegedly over wage demands cleared the way for Yacob. Seeing that Doumbia has now ended up at a Championship side probably proves that the club were right to pull out of the deal.
 
As for the actual player himself, Yacob comes from Racing, the third or fourth best team in
Argentina. He captained Racing as a teenager and was an ever present. He has been described as a hard tackling box-to-box man who usually plays as a defensive midfielder but can also play further forward in central midfield.

Talk sport's South American reporter said that Claudio Yacob is a cracking signing for Albion. Three Argentina caps and one goal to his name, Yacob joins on a three year deal.
 
Markus Rosenberg
 
Swedish international
Rosenberg had been linked with Albion for quite a while although the Baggies had apparently been looking at other options ahead of Rosenberg before he was signed.
 
He has quite a footballing pedigree having played in the Champions League for both Werder Bremen and Dutch giants Ajax. He scored 40 goals in 123 appearances for
Bremen. He clearly left an impression on the club’s fans with plenty of them wishing him luck in England.

Andy James, a Bundesliga expert and commentator had plenty to say about Rosenberg.
 
"He's an aerial threat, because he's strong and tall and he's quite skilful. They call him 'Sillen' in his homeland, which is Swedish for herring, because he has quite a leap on him.
 
"I'd say he will play and will be a decent signing for West Brom. Most Scandinavians tend to fare well in the Premier League. He's got the build for it, he's fairly robust, has the right mentality and being Swedish his English will be good. Rosenberg is also good friends with the West Brom defender Jonas Olsson which will obviously help him settle. If he has a good season I expect him to score around 10 goals."
 
I look at it like this - he's a free transfer with a good record around Europe, it should be a win-win situation for Albion because even if he turns out to be a flop, the player is on a three year contract so should at least have a resale value.

Hopefully though he will get the 10 goals that Andy James says he is capable of.
 
Romalu Lukaku
 
On-loan
Chelsea star Romalu Lukaku is the most valuable player ever to join West Brom.

Many were surprised by the signing as it came hot on the heels of another striker joining Albion in Markus Rosenberg. Few fans will fail to get excited by this move.

Just last year he cost Chelsea £13 million, rising to £18 million, but he has struggled to make his mark at Stamford Bridge. Despite that many pundits believe that Lukaku is one of the hottest prospects in Europe and has been labelled by some as the next Didier Drogba. 

A regular in the Belgium national team, Albion fans will be hoping that the 19 year old will be a regular source of goals this season but what is important is that Albion fans don't put too much pressure on him, he is still young after all.

In the 2009 January transfer window, Albion signed another highly rated youngster - Jay Simpson, on-loan from Arsenal. Simpson failed to impress despite a lot being expected of him too. I believe though that Lukaku is on a different level to Simpson, and I firmly believe he will be a big hit.

Liam Jones, 10/08/12


 

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