West Brom are hoping to sign attacker Chris Willock on a permanent basis after he has impressed coaches at The Hawthorns.

The 21-year-old, who is the older brother of Arsenal's Joe, joined Albion on a season-long loan back in August from Portuguese giants Benfica.

However, he has yet to make an appearance for the Baggies, with his only involvement in the first-team coming as an unused substitute in the League Cup defeat at home to Millwall.

Nevertheless, Willock has been starring for the Baggies U23 side since his arrival and must also be doing well in training.

That's because Birmingham Live have revealed that the Championship leaders plan to go ahead and sign the versatile forward on a long-term deal.

It was reported when Willock signed that both Albion and the Portuguese champions would be able to review the loan in January.

Even though the former Arsenal youngster still has three years left on his deal with the Lisbon outfit, he is some way down in the pecking order at Benfica and hasn't played for the senior team in his time at the club.

The verdict

It's hard to judge Willock because even though he is very highly-rated, we haven't seen him play.

But, Albion need to trust Bilic and the backroom team on this one. They are watching him on a day-to-day basis and in the U23s and if they see a talented player then the board need to do all they can to bring him in.

Clearly, that's the case, so you would expect this deal to happen, either in January or next summer as there doesn't seem to be a particular rush to close this one.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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