Tammer Bany - West Brom's street footballer from Copenhagen

He is something of a one-off in Albion's squad, a throw-back maybe? There were no academy formative years in Denmark. Becoming a professional footballer even in his homeland must have seemed a long way away in his mid-teens.

"I never played in these big teams," Bany, 21, tells the Express & Star from Albion's training base in Austria. "I was always like a 'local talent' in Denmark, I was never in an academy.

"I played street football. I played more amateur leagues.

"At 15 or 16 I started to play in an academy at League One (level). My first club Vanløse (VIF) was like below League Two in England. From 16 I played senior football in the third division."

Playing on the streets with friends - and adversaries - helped, he believes, make Bany the rough-and-ready attacking talent he is today. The player Albion decision-makers spent more than £3million on in January.

"The streets helped me with and without the ball," the attacker adds. "I am also very aggressive and I 100 per cent got that from the streets.

"Maybe players here and in (previous club) Randers have trained the simpler things for a long time and are better at simpler things, but when we play games I feel I can be more creative, maybe, because I played difficult football."

Albion's pre-season tour coverage is in association with BHP Design

Bany made just four appearances between his beginning of February arrival and the end of the season. One, his debut cameo, delivered an assist. He signed for Albion during the Danish close-season, so the need to adjust was always likely - and a minor muscle injury did not help.

Dane Bany - who is of Palestinian heritage - has enjoyed a remarkable rise to reach the Black Country. Two-and-a-half years or so have changed everything for the attacking midfielder.

Bany's first professional club, Copenhagen-based B93, were in the third tier when he broke into senior reckoning. In the 2022/23 season, his breakthrough campaign, he scored seven times in 25 games as a teen to help them win promotion.

Soon after, following a brief experience in the second tier, unfancied top flight outfit Randers came calling for a very nominal six-figure fee.

Eight months of top flight Danish football later and the likes of Celtic and Albion were pushing hard for Copenhagen's street footballer. The latter won the race for more than 10-times the cost of 12 months earlier.

"It's tougher than people think, in Denmark," recalls Bany, for whom plenty is hoped at The Hawthorns this season. "That's why it was big for us to get promoted to the second league. It's good to have that with me.

"I know you need to be focused in every game. Every game matters if you need to be promoted. I was young so it was good to experience that."

A move to the top flight with Randers in January 2024 was one thing - but what followed?

"I had a goal. Before I went to Randers I had a mind that I knew I could showcase my level in the best Denmark league and hopefully bigger teams will come," he confirms.

"It came after eight months, so it was a good goal to achieve. It was not something that just happened.

"You know English football culture is so big. When West Bromwich was interested it was big for me. There were other teams, it was an exciting month for me. From the second division to big teams wanting me in six months."

Bany's short career has had a sharp trajectory and been a real success story. It was acknowledged he would need the second part of last season to adjust. Now there is optimism it is time to deliver.

"When I was 15 I was just enjoying football," he says. "At 16 I got to B93 and started to play senior football. That's when I had coaches who told me I had something.

"They said if I stay focused on football I will have a big career. I was born in 2003 and there were many '03 talents in Denmark. They said I would get through (above) them. I always had that in my mind. I had coaches that believed in me, Thomas Norgaard (B93), he believed in me. 

"I remember looking at the Premier League when I was little and saw West Bromwich, that's why when they came for me it was crazy and very good for me."