Albion open talks with Odemwingie

Albion are set to open contract talks with Peter Odemwingie in the next week - as the race to sign Israel international Itay Shechter hots up.

Odemwingie's representatives hope to begin discussions with Baggies officials in the next few days over an extended and improved deal for the Nigeria international.

And Shechter is due in England this week to speak to Albion - but they face competition for the 24-year-old from Champions League new-boys Hannover.

The Baggies are keen to tie Odemwingie down to an extended contract to avoid a summer of speculation over his future.

The forward has a year remaining on his current deal plus a further year's option in the Baggies' favour, but Albion are likely to offer him an extended contract that would put him on a par with the club's highest earners.

The 29-year-old, who hit 15 goals in his debut Premier League season, collected another accolade last night when he was named the Premier League's African Player of the Season at the inaugural Best of Africa Awards.

Agent David Omigie said: "Talks should take place any time from now. We are just waiting to hear from the club but things should start any moment now, hopefully in the next week or so.

"Peter is OK. He is very happy at West Brom and he will consider whatever is put on the table by them.

"No-one can say for sure what will happen in the future and things will become clearer in the days and weeks ahead."

Meanwhile, the Baggies' attempts to improve their squad continued today with Shechter due in England for talks.

But reports from Germany claim Hannover have moved into pole position in the race for the Hapoel Tel Aviv forward having already held discussions with the player.

The Bundesliga outfit can offer Shechter Champions League football having sealed a surprise fourth-place finish this season.

Another German club, Kaiserslautern, are also keeping tabs on the striker. Shechter has scored 26 goals in 45 appearances for Hapoel since joining them from Maccabi Netanya in 2009.

The striker has nine full international caps and two goals, having played previously for Israel's under-18s, under-19s and under-21s.