John Swift hopes to be the creative spark for West Brom next season after admitting he jumped at the chance to sign for the Baggies. 

Swift arrived on a free transfer from Championship rivals Reading and is hoping to be the much-needed creative spark West Brom needs next season.

The former Chelsea youngster racked up 11 goals and 13 assists for the Royals last season despite them struggling at the bottom end of the table for the majority of the season.

In addition to that, he picked up the players' player of the season and vice-president's player of the season accolade, highlighting his importance to a struggling team.

But, after leaving Reading, he said he jumped at the chance to come to the Hawthorns, telling club media: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be here and I genuinely can’t wait to get going at my new club.

“As soon as I was told Albion wanted to bring me to The Hawthorns I jumped at the opportunity.

“For me, it wasn’t a case of holding Albion in place while also exploring other options or seeing if any other clubs were in for me. As soon as I knew, I wanted to come here."

West Brom were frustratingly wasteful last season in front of goal and Steve Bruce has highlighted the club's need to solve their problem with midfield creativity previously, but with Swift playing alongside the likes of Alex Mowatt, Callum Robinson and Karlan Grant, there's plenty of potential for goals and assists next season.

This is something Swift is desperate to contribute to and be the solution to the issue raised by Bruce, saying: “I managed to get quite a few goals and assists last season at Reading and I’m focused on making sure I have another season where I manage to get plenty of both again.

“I’m really excited to come into this team and try to help it score more goals."

The Verdict

This is a terrific signing from West Brom. While they didn't struggle to create chances last season, Swift adds a goal threat and creative spark that teams need when chasing a top two finish.

You only have to look at Fulham as an example who had Mitrovic, Wilson, Carvalho, Kebano and De Cordova-Reid all score eight goals or more.

With just as couple of more signings similar to Swift, it will be hard to not see West Brom push for a top two finish.

That being said, that should've have been the case this season had they not underperformed so poorly in front of goal.