Albion to continue overseas hunt

Albion sporting director Dan Ashworth has confirmed the club will continue scouring Europe for new signings.

The Baggies' transfer chief believes they must continue thinking "outside the box" to improve the team as more established Premier League sides get the pick of the best domestic deals.

Most of Albion's signings for the current Premier League campaign came from the continent and the club have turned increasingly to the foreign market.

And Ashworth admitted: "That is where we are as a club. For proven Premier League players who are already playing in the Premier League, we are probably not as attractive an option for because we're a newly-promoted side.

"We perhaps have to think outside the box and maybe get them from clubs where they're not in the first team. Youssouf Mulumbu was a good example of that, coming out of Paris Saint Germain reserves.

"We have to think a bit differently and hopefully, if we retain our Premier League status, we might become a little bit more attractive to players who are already in the Premier League.

"We have quite a range of backgrounds and some have been more successful than others but it's a world game and a world league that is attractive everywhere."

Ashworth has overseen a widening of the Baggies' overseas scouting network in recent years, bidding to help the club become an established Premier League presence.

They have suffered high-profile failures with the likes of club-record signing Borja Valero and South Korean Kim Do-heon failing to make their mark in the first team.

But Ashworth reckons the success of Peter Odemwingie, who was plucked from Lokomotiv Moscow to become this season's nine-goal leading scorer, has proved that foreign markets are worth pursuing.

He said: "We are delighted with Peter. He has got nine goals already this season with nine games to go and clubs that finish in the bottom half of the Premier League rarely have a striker that reaches double figures.

"If Peter can get to double figures it will be a great achievement for him. He is an experienced player at 29 years old, who has played a lot of times for his country and in several different countries.

"We knew we were getting an experienced player but until they actually play in the Premier League you never quite know what you're going to get.

"Borja Valero was a good example of that for us. He had mixed success with us and yet he has gone back to Spain with Villarreal, who are third in their league, and been called up for the Spanish national side, who are ranked the best in the world.

"The Premier League is a different beast and a slightly different league, so you never quite know what you're going to get."