Football journalist Alan Nixon has taken to Twitter to provide an update on West Brom's pursuit of Barnsley boss Valerien Ismael. 

The Baggies are said to have identified the Frenchman as their ideal target to takeover the vacant manager role at the Hawthorns, as the club finally looks to appoint Sam Allardyce's successor.

Ismael is the latest name to have been linked with the post in recent weeks, with Albion having previously targets the likes of Chris Wilder, David Wagner and Michael Appleton.

Now, Nixon has taken to Twitter to provide an update on the club's pursuit of the Tykes boss during an exchange with a West Brom fan earlier today:

Ismael has impressed many since he took over the Barnsley job in October of last year, with the 45-year-old coach eventually seeing his eye-catching young team lose out in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs to Swansea City last season.

The Barnsley man has a current contract at Oakwell which expires in the summer of 2023.

The Verdict 

I firmly believe that the Baggies will pay the compensation money required to bring Ismael to the club, as I think everyone associated with Albion is growing frustrated with the constant speculation over who will take over.

The money is certainly there to bring him in and I believe he would be the ideal candidate to take them forwards after suffering relegation.

It will be intriguing to see how he gets on at the Hawthorns, as he will be under a lot more pressure in that role than he has been at Barnsley.

Promotion will be their number one target as many people expect and the 45-year-old will certainly be taking a big step forward in his career if he moves to the Midlands club in the near future.

Barnsley's loss would certainly be West Brom's gain.