Speculation continues to mount that Albion are lining up a possible free transfer deal for Dutch under-21 international Mustapha Riga.
The Baggies are reportedly willing to swoop for the 26-year-old winger, if he secures his release from troubled Spanish club Levante.
Riga is one of a host of Levante players who have not been paid for several months and hope to take advantage of a FIFA rule, allowing players to terminate their contracts in such circumstances.
Middlesbrough are also monitoring Riga, who has made no secret of his interest in moving to England.
He said: “The Premier League has always been a dream. I’ve rejected other chances, now I don’t want to miss this chance.”
Riga is a wideman and occasional striker who was born in Ghana but holds a Dutch passport. He has played for the nation’s under-21s alongside new Baggies signing Gianni Zuiverloon.
He played in Holland for Vitesse Arnhem, RBC Roosendaal and Sparta Rotterdam before moving to Spain in 2005 to join Levante, for whom he has scored 28 times in 104 appearances.
The club are now in financial trouble after being relegated from Spain’s top division and several star players are likely to leave.
Albion’s spending this summer has already passed the £13m mark with the signings of Zuiverloon, Marek Cech and Scott Carson and the conversion of Roman Bednar, Kim Do-Heon and Luke Moore’s loans into permanent deals.
They are looking to add up to half-a-dozen more new faces to the squad before the closure of the transfer window.
Manager Tony Mowbray said: “Things move closer every day. Talks move on, some more than others. We are still in discussions with clubs over a few players and hopefully there will be some signings in the coming weeks.”
Mowbray is looking to further increase his options in the centre of midfield and the need for new faces there could become more urgent today.
Promotion star Robert Koren was due for a scan today on the knee ligament injury that he suffered in Wednesday’s defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach.
22 Comments
UNDER 21 INTERNATIONAL BUT HES 26 !!
check out this lad on youtube
any predictions for the emirates match?
what will be the starting XI??
Gera’s replacement?
How did they get on in the last match
poor Robbie Koren seems to have a pre-season jinx. Its a shame because he is one that I would expect to do well in the prem.
wakeywakey lost 4 1 enjoy it at plymouth
1 - I thought that.
He’s played at Under 21 level with Zuiverloon but he’s 26?
Either that means Zuiverloon was playing under 21 internationals at the age of 15, they never did play together at under 21 level, or there’s been a slight error on the part of the E&D.
Any news on strip / sponsor anyone?
nedball
No sponsor, does anyone know if we are the last club in England to release their new shirts??
I know Peace is holding out for the best possible deal but how many shirt sales will they miss out on due to the delay?
Didnt the club release a statement saying the shirts would be on sale next week, i cant see that happening now.
Nedball
I think theres some rule where under-21’s can play upto the age of 23??
Daft if you ask me.
I think its going to be LDV after all.
It’s a one horse race as far as I’m aware.
LDV for Sponsors
who are you?
And still we ignore the fact that we need decent defenders
7)The kits got leaked on the internet a while ago, just whack in West Brom kit 08-09, its been that long since these were leaked due to the sponsorship deal taking so long it could well of changed 5 times over though!
10 - I got e-mailed those pictures ages ago, but was just seeing if anyone had heard when they were going to be released, or if it had been confirmed with LDV being the new sponsor?
Also, was the deadline that JP set for any potential financial backers the end of July?
That’s all gone quiet since it got mentioned hasn’t it?
The sponsorship thing is becoming a bit if a farce. We have known for ages that T Mobile were not renewing. What have they been playing at (Apart from signing new players that is). I think it will be Bollinger on account of the Champagne football we play.
Bones, you moved from 10 to 13 for some reason, but my response was to your post
The name says it all ‘Musthave Rigamortis’ Bet he looks lively on the pitch
Nedball - not just my computer thats going a bit random today then mate, i thought it was delayed hang over
LDV the sponsor, with their Russian owner rumoured to be interested in buying the club! Hmmm…All very interesting especiially as things are dragging on with no official word. Additionally, didn’t JP say we only had a limited budget for new players. With over 13 million spent and Mowbray stating that he wants another 5-6 players, where is the money coming from? This is not JP’s way to be so gracious.
I can feel it, we are a russian owned club! Come on you Baggieski’s!!
Please sign a player that we know im sick of all this unknowns 50%work 50%dont try a prem player and dont say we dont have the money.
20 Celtic.
Koren, Miller, Texeira, Gera, Kim.
2/
This will be the starting 11 for the ARSENAL game.
CARSON/HOEFKENS/BARNETT/CLEMENT/ROBINSON/
KIM/MORRISON/GREENING/CECH/MOORE/MILLER.
Tony Mowbray just seems to be focusing on the
defending side of things,GARY MEGSON and
BRYAN ROBSON done that and look where it got us.
Iam starting to wish we never got promoted as
our squad needs major invesment,
`You cant get rid of ALBRECHSTEN/GERA/PHILLIPS
then think your going to win football matches,
In our first pre-season games we have scored
2 and conceded 6.
If we dont buy some midfeilders then we wont
create and if you dont create then you wont
score goals and if cant score goals then the
ALBION are going down.