West Bromwich Albion have just over a month left until they begin their Championship campaign with a trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City in August.
The Baggies finished the 2025/26 season in 21st place in the second tier and will be hoping to move further up the table under permanent manager James Morrison, who has already added some notable players to his squad.
Attackers Jimmy Jay Morgan and Bernie Stewart, who scored a combined 32 goals for their respective clubs last season, both join on permanent deals.
However, they both play a central role in the attack and West Brom need to add more firepower to the team in the wide areas of their attacking set-up.
Why West Brom need to find the next Harvey Barnes
Having spent £1.6m on Stewart and up to £4m on Morgan, the Baggies may need to look for bargains in other positions, which is why the Premier League loan market could be an attractive route down.
Back in the summer of 2018, the club acquired Harvey Barnes on loan from Leicester City, and he went on to become a full-fledged left-sided attacker at the Hawthorns, enjoying great success.
The English forward scored nine goals and provided six assists in 26 games in the Championship during the first half of the 2018/19 season, convincing the Foxes to bring him back in January.
In the 2025/26 season, none of West Brom’s natural wide players scored more than two goals in the second division, with Mikey Johnston and Jed Wallace scoring twice in the division.
The lack of goal threat from Morrison’s wide players last season suggests he will need to return to the market again this summer to find a second generation for Barnes, who scored regularly on the left while on loan from Leicester.
West Brom enter race to sign the next Harvey Barnes
There are plenty of promising young wingers available on loan in the Premier League, and the Baggies are already eyeing a starlet who could be the next version of Barnes.
The Sunderland Echo reports that West Bromwich Albion are one of a number of clubs in the race to sign Brighton & Hove Albion winger Tommy Watson on loan in the summer transfer window.
Leicester City, Derby County, West Ham United and Hull City are also said to be interested in the former Black Cats forward, but he is said to be expected to sign with the Championship side, potentially ruling out the Foxes and Hull.
It means the Baggies could have to battle recently relegated West Ham and John Eustace’s Derby to secure the 20-year-old talent, who was once hailed as “great” by journalist Josh Bunting.
25/26 League Cup | tommy watson |
|---|---|
Appearance | 3 |
the goal | 1 |
time per goal | 137 |
Key paths per game | 1.7 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 1 |
assist | 3 |
Watson was loaned to Millwall in the second half of the season and did not score in 12 games, but he attracted attention last season by scoring one goal and providing three assists in three games in the League Cup against Brighton.
The England Under-21 international, who scored the winning goal in Sunderland’s 2025 play-off final, has yet to perform consistently at first-team level since his breakthrough with the Black Cats, but his form at youth level suggests it is only a matter of time.
Watson scored 18 goals in 40 appearances for Sunderland at Under-18s level, and 14 goals and 11 assists in 32 appearances for the Under-21s at academy level, showing he has the potential to both score and assist on a regular basis.
His academy form suggests he could be West Brom’s next Barnes. That’s because he too is on loan in the Premier League and could arrive at the Hawthorns as a right-footed left winger to score goals every week.
The Baggies are in desperate need of a goal threat from the wide areas and Watson has the potential to be exactly what they are looking for. That’s why they need to push to beat West Ham on his signature.
