No rest for Tony Pulis on West Brom transfers

West Brom boss Tony Pulis' feet were barely on dry land when his phone started ringing.

Albion's head coach has been away from the club for the last week on important personal business, rowing 450 miles from London to Paris with just two hours' sleep between shifts in the boat.

Yet even as the exhausted 57-year-old was driven by wife Debbie back to Cherbourg to board a ferry back to England, his phone was red hot.

He was catching up with the latest news on his plans for next season at the Hawthorns.

Speaking to the Express & Star on his journey north after his epic fundraising trip, he said: "It doesn't stop.

"I might not be at the ground at the moment, but the phone is always ringing as we're trying to get people in for next season. It's non-stop. Life is as busy or as quiet as you want it to be."

Pulis's enthusiasm for working holidays might come in useful this summer, as he sets about building an Albion squad fit to avoid a third successive season of struggle at the foot of the Premier League table.

The work has already begun with Youssouf Mulumbu released, Boaz Myhill and Claudio Yacob kept on thanks to one-year options in their contracts and talks under way with Gareth McAuley over a new deal.

Myhill and Yacob are already in discussions over extended stays.

But the futures of Jonas Olsson, Sebastien Pocognoli, Cristian Gamboa, Victor Anichebe, Stephane Sessegnon and Brown Ideye are still uncertain.

With a host of spots to fill in a new-look squad, Pulis has his work cut out.

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Chances are, several other out-of-favour recruits from the last two ill-fated summer transfer windows will depart along with Mulumbu.

Pocognoli failed to figure under Pulis in the Premier League and was busy saying goodbyes to team-mates at the end of the season, while Gamboa looks equally out of place in the new era.

Finding buyers for both, though, could be easier said than done.

The same goes for Anichebe, whose injury record and inconsistent form means Albion would love to cash in.

They might also look to recoup some funds on Olsson, before he enters the final year of his contract.

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Pulis would be happy to use Ideye as one of four forwards but would also consider selling for the right price.

The Baggies chief admitted: "I honestly don't know what is going to happen. I could sit here now and say four or five players will leave, but none of us know.

"It depends if anyone wants to take them, and if we can get the players we want. We can't just let people go with no-one to come in."