West Brom have been making progress under Valerien Ismael in the transfer market and during pre-season so far but there is plenty of work still left to be done for the Baggies.

Ismael has been able to add to his squad with the signings of Alex Mowatt, Matt Clarke and Quevin Castro but they are still keen to add more players to their squad.

One area in particular that remains on the agenda is in midfield, with the Baggies having reportedly made an offer to Trevoh Chalobah. That offer is now thought to be under consideration by the 22-year-old who also has offers from a host of other clubs.

As well as in the middle of the park, West Brom will need to potentially address other areas of their squad before the window shuts.

The free-agent market still has some potentially decent options that the Baggies could turn to as part of their recruitment drive and in the current economic climate it might be a sensible route to go down.

With that in mind, we have taken a look at TWO free-agents that should be on West Brom’s radar this summer and why…

James McCarthy

One player that is currently a free-agent that has previously been of interest to West Brom is former Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy.

It had been reported back in January that the experienced 42-cap Republic of Ireland international was on the Baggies’ list of potential targets in the winter window as they aimed to give their survival chances a boost.

The 30-year-old was allowed to leave Palace at the end of his deal in the summer and he is one of the best options available in the free-agent market in terms of midfield players that the Baggies could afford the wages of.

He has plenty of technical quality to offer and is also able to win the ball back and provide protection to the back four.

McCarthy managed to make just ten Premier League starts last term for Palace and is therefore in need of finding a new home where he can be more of an important figure.

The midfielder managed to average 0.5 key passes, 2.5 tackles and won 3.7 duels per match in his 33 league appearances in the 2019/20 campaign to underline his all-around quality and show the sort of quality he could bring to the table at the Hawthorns. In Ismael's high intense pressing system he would be adept at winning the ball back and can also make things happen is wins the ball high up the field

Should West Brom’s move for Chalobah fall through, they could do a lot worse than making a move for McCarthy on a free transfer.

 Robbie Brady

Another free-agent that might be well worth a look by West Brom this summer is former Burnley winger Robbie Brady.

The experienced Republic of Ireland international is someone that still has a lot of quality to offer, but he needs a full season of regular first-team football under his belt to fully recover from the injury issues that hampered his time at Turf Moor.

Had it not been for a series of injury issues, Brady would likely still be a key player at Burnley in the Premier League. His quality from dead-ball situations would make him an asset for any club in the Championship.

The 29-year-old can add goals and assists to his side when he is fully fit and firing and also has the versatility of being able to play in various positions.

For West Brom, you could imagine Brady being a very useful player if Ismael is to go with a similar sort of system that he deployed at Barnsley.

He would be perfect to play a left-wing-back role given he has played as a left-back before during his time with Hull City and Norwich City and also because he is naturally used to providing the width in the final third.