West Brom should eye ex-Derby County star and Nathan Redmond on a free | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion should make moves for free agent duo Tom Lawrence and Nathan Redmond.

West Bromwich Albion have enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign following the appointment of Ryan Mason, but the Baggies may well be missing a certain something and that is something that could still be fixed with a couple of signings.

Having been given his first permanent managerial role over the summer, former England international midfielder Ryan Mason has enjoyed a strong start to life at The Hawthorns.

West Brom collected ten points from their opening four matches of the campaign last month, before returning from the September international break with a 1-0 defeat at home to a previously winless Derby County side.

That defeat to Derby perhaps exacerbated issues that had been discussed within the fanbase over the break, with a lack of creativity and ingenuity in the final third perhaps fatally detrimental to their chances of sustaining a promotion push this season.

The sale of Tom Fellows to Southampton being sanctioned so late in the summer transfer window has also left the squad just, for the want of a better phrase, looking a bit bland and toothless in terms of creativity.

That is why the Baggies should look to freshen things up with the free agent market, pursuing moves for Wales international Tom Lawrence and former England international Nathan Redmond.

Tom Lawrence could provide a creative spark for West Brom

Tom Lawrence has built a reputation within the EFL for being a player that can create things from very little, whether that be through deft assists or thunderbolt strikes from 30 yards out.

The 31-year-old Wrexham-born attacker came through at Manchester United and has gone on to play for Carlisle United, Yeovil Town, Leicester City, Rotherham United, Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, Ipswich Town and Derby County in the EFL.

His stint at Derby was where he perhaps best made a name for himself, despite an impressive campaign at Ipswich Town the year before he moved to the Rams in 2017.

Spending five seasons at Pride Park, Lawrence showed his quality and flittered between being a system player and also being able to take on the mantle of a talismanic figure.

He has spent the last three seasons at Rangers before departing Ibrox at the end of his contract this summer and remaining without a club ever since.

It would certainly be taking a chance from West Brom, but the quality he has shown in the past would be ideal for an Albion team that are in danger of being too process driven and lacking a spark in the final third.

The sheer technical quality of Lawrence could certainly provide that for a side that are in danger of being too one paced in the way they get forward.

Nathan Redmond can provide width and pace for West Brom

That one paced nature could also be solved by the addition of free agent Nathan Redmond, who left Burnley after gaining promotion to the top-flight with them last season.

Redmond was a majorly fringe player at Turf Moor, but the quality of that Burnley squad means that is no real mark against the 31-year-old. He had a trial at Sheffield United this summer and the early seasons sacking of Ruben Selles would also present question marks of the manager’s judgement and so him not getting a deal at Bramall Lane also has mitigation.

On his day, the former Norwich City and Southampton man has been good enough to earn himself an England cap, with speed and directness two attributes now complimented by a tactical maturity when playing out-wide on either flank.

The Baggies lack width without Fellows and despite the signing of Samuel Iling-Junior, and Redmond could provide that, with his quality and experience also giving Albion a point of difference in a potentially stale attack.

The inconsistency and unpredictability that he has shown in his career is actually also perhaps something that should intrigue Mason and the Baggies’ recruitment team.

The processes are in place and the style of football is there, but the lack of ingenuity could lead to quite frustrating matches against teams with low blocks. Both Lawrence and Redmond represent players with a ceiling that could help transform them from also-rans into genuine promotion contenders.