"A fairly big fan" - West Brom told to consider Preston North End & Swansea City free agent raids | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has had his say on which free agents the club should be looking at this summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

West Bromwich Albion are in a strong position under Tony Mowbray to reach the play-offs for the second consecutive season, thanks to the good work of Carlos Corberan in the first half of the campaign.

That said, they will also be thinking about recruitment this summer all the time, irrespective of which division they find themselves in by the time May ends. Failure to gain promotion will change many of those decisions, but the impact of returning to the Premier League could be huge as well.

Corberan steadied the ship in his first season and then guided West Brom to a fifth-placed finish last year and reached the play-offs, but their promotion hopes were dashed by the eventual winners Southampton in the play-off semi-final.

A hectic summer then followed that, which made the Baggies' start to the season particularly impressive given that they were operating under an EFL-imposed business plan during the summer in order to avoid a breach of the league's financial rules.

That could also dictate plenty of their summer plans heading towards the busy summer window, which is why free agents are also likely to be on the agenda again for the Baggies, regardless of where they are playing their football in August.

West Brom urged to pursue Harry Darling and Emil Riis deals if they run contracts down

Football League World has asked our West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess for his verdict on which players the club should be eyeing a move for this summer from the free agent list, with Preston North End and Swansea City raids high on his agenda.

Swans defender Harry Darling was of interest to Sheffield United in January, and although a move never arose, he's likely going to be on the radar of several second tier sides if his contract runs down.

Callum told FLW: "There are a few players on the free agent list that will probably go on to bigger and better things outside of the Championship.

"But, in terms of the possibly realistic options, Harry Darling is a good centre-back with the ball at his feet. He’s also a good aerial threat from set-pieces as well.

"Maybe he’s someone who could be suited well to Albion. That’s if Mowbray wants to play out from the back, for example. I’m unsure about his defensive capabilities.

"But with us possibly losing Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley in the summer, we’re going to need someone who is an aerial threat to compete with Caleb Taylor coming back from his loan."

With both Will Lankshear and Adam Armstrong on loan until the end of the season with Albion, plus Daryl Dike's fitness record being a concern, Callum has also touted a swoop for PNE forward Emil Riis as well.

The Dane has found the back of the net nine times in the Championship this season from 32 appearances, and he could be an ideal competitor to Dike and Josh Maja next season.

"Also on that list is Emil Riis from Preston. I’ve been a fairly big fan of his over the years. I think he’s a good striker at Championship level," Callum added.

"On a free transfer, you wouldn’t be able to go wrong with either of those two, I believe. I think that in any other scenario where they are contracted to someone for a few years that you’d be looking at a few million for either of them."

Callum's suggestions are absolutely excellent ones for a team in the second tier, with many Championship sides likely to be eyeing deals for the pair of out of contract players named.

However, they would not necessarily be material improvements if West Brom are in the top-flight, which is still a distinct possibility for this new-look West Brom side under Mowbray's tutelage.

West Brom have been attempting to transition to a more front-footed approach under Mowbray, navigating away from the previous pragmatic football witnessed under Corberan, but teething problems mean a dip in form has occurred as a result of this.