Why West Brom should try sign £12m Crystal Palace star and £25k-a-week ace in the first week of January | OneFootball

FLW lists two players West Brom should try and sign during the first week of the January transfer window.

West Brom will be hopeful of competing for promotion back to the Premier League and ending a five-year exodus from the top flight, but they may require a big January transfer window for that to happen.

The closest the Baggies have come to returning to the big time was back in the 2023-24 season under Carlos Corberan, where the Black Country outfit were defeated in the semi-final of the play-offs by eventual winners Southampton.

Since then, Albion fell short in their quest for the top six after the Spaniard departed The Hawthorns at Christmas, with the playing squad failing to play with any confidence when Tony Mowbray returned for a second stint at The Hawthorns.

During the early period of the 2025-26 term, Baggies supporters have been frustrated to say the least, but Albion are far from out of staking a claim for a promotion push this campaign, and the January transfer window could be a defining period for this aim to bear fruit.

At the turn of the new year, a lot of surprising deals can unfold when players have a final opportunity to secure game time for the remainder of the season, and Albion should be a club looking to be busy if they want to cement themselves towards the upper end of the second-tier table.

In order to get players to integrate as quickly as possible ahead of a sharp turnaround of fixtures, West Brom should be looking to get some deals over the line during the first week of the window to show a statement of intent.

With this in mind, Football League World has listed two players the Baggies should be scampering to buy during the first seven days of the winter window.

One area of the pitch West Brom desperately need to strengthen is on the right-wing, with the Baggies feeling the full effect of selling academy product Tom Fellows this summer.

In an attempt to fill the gap, Albion brought in Aston Villa’s Samuel Iling-Junior on loan, but the wideman has yet to prove that he has what it takes to put up the numbers that Fellows did during his time in the blue and white stripes.

Because of this, fresh competition and quality is needed, and Crystal Palace’s Romain Esse could be an ideal target as he struggles to make an impact at Selhurst Park.

Approaching a year on from his £12m move from Millwall, the 20-year-old is yet to find his feet in the Premier League, making a handful of top flight appearances and receiving criticism from boss Oliver Glasner back in September for not getting the basics right in a Carabao Cup penalty shootout victory over the Lions.

With his future in serious doubt heading into January, it’s a loan deal the Baggies should be eyeing up.

Of course, given his talents on show at the Den, there will be a queue of Championship clubs lining up to get him onto their books, so Albion will have to be swift and ensure he chooses The Hawthorns as his next destination.

Esse needs an environment to get back to his best after a difficult patch with the Eagles, and did most of his damage at the Den off the right flank, although he can feature on the opposite flank or as an attacking midfielder to suit different opposition.

His tricky nature and versatility are two qualities that he could bring to this Albion side, and the Baggies should be going all out to add some more dynamism in the final third.

It’s been a drastic change of fortunes for Dwight McNeil, who has gone from a first-team mainstay at Everton to a bench warmer this season.

It’s largely because of the arrival of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but given the impact McNeil has previously made in the top-flight, he should definitely not be getting as few minutes as he’s currently receiving.

McNeil’s direct running, turn of pace and wand of a left foot has seen him be such a creative force in the final third for both Burnley and Everton, particularly demonstrated in the 2024-25 campaign when he netted four times and provided eight assists on the blue half of Merseyside.

Therefore, it would be a major coup if a Championship side was able to land the £25k-a-week star on a loan deal, and it could be a possibility given McNeil has to take an opportunity to play regular football between now and next May.

And it’s definitely something Albion should be enquiring about if a deal can become available, given their desperate requirement for some flair in the final third.

From a West Brom perspective, there will be slight concern about McNeil earning more game time over the winter period given Iliman Ndiaye’s participation in the African Cup of Nations with Senegal, but if David Moyes still doesn’t fancy him, then the player will surely be demanding an exit from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

With the Baggies in desperate need of some flair behind the frontman, McNeil could come in be a major player in the Black Country if he made the move, and it’s the profile of player they must bring in if they have the ambition to get back into the promotion conversation.