West Bromwich Albion's Head of Football Operations Ian Pearce has revealed that the Baggies will be utilising the free agent and loan markets again during the summer transfer window, speaking to the club's media team.

Pearce has recently been appointed to his new role - and will have a big say on recruitment during the summer window.

Considering he was previously the Head of Recruitment though, he has had an influence on transfers at The Hawthorns for some time and will be looking to utilise that to oversee a successful upcoming window in the Midlands.

He will need to conduct Albion's transfer business within a tight budget though - and may need to replace some key players with player sales seemingly on the horizon.

What business did West Brom complete last summer?

They managed to bring in John Swift, Jed Wallace and Okay Yokuslu for a combined total of £0 - an impressive achievement for the Baggies who set themselves up nicely to enjoy a productive summer window last year.

They did pay fees for a couple of players including Jayson Molumby and Brandon Thomas-Asante - but they didn't exactly splash the cash and utilised the free agent market well.

After missing out on a couple of deals on deadline day, Tom Rogic and Erik Pieters all arrived on free transfers along with Martin Kelly who came in just before the deadline.

What are West Brom's transfer plans for this summer?

West Brom are planning to use the free agent and loan markets again - but Pearce also hinted that there would be money to spend on gems like Thomas-Asante.

He said: "In Jed Wallace, John Swift and Okay Yokuslu, I believe we signed the three best free transfers last year.

"This summer we’ll be looking at that market again and seeing what’s available, but we’ll be utilising the loan market too – which is very important for teams in the Championship and can be a good tool for progression.

"We’ll be assessing both of those markets. And another example of business we’d like to do is Brandon Thomas-Asante, who has been brilliant for us and built a good connection with the fans. We’ll be looking for those types of signings as well."

Is Ian Pearce adopting the right strategy?

They can't afford to spend big this summer so adopting the strategy that Pearce has set out is probably the right path for Albion at this stage.

There are plenty of players that will be available in the free agent market and this is a market they should certainly be looking to make full use of again, as long as that player is the right fit for the Baggies.

But they shouldn't be looking to bring too many loan players in because that could hamper their ability to build for the long term.

Nottingham Forest's use of the loan market during 2021/22 may have paid dividends for them as they secured promotion - but a huge void was created in their squad when the likes of Djed Spence and Keinan Davis left.

West Brom will be looking to avoid similar happening to them when the summer of 2024 comes along, so it wouldn't be a surprise if the vast majority of their additions this summer are free agents.

Player sales may depend on whether they can fork out on transfer fees.