Tony Pulis admits West Brom must likely spend big just to stand still next season

The Baggies boss is in China to meet owner Guochuan Lai with the transfer budget top of the agenda.

Albion finished in the top half of the Premier League for only the third time but a run of nine defeats in the final 12 games left Pulis admitting his squad requires plenty of surgery in the months ahead.

Lai is expected to provide substantial funds for strengthening and it is anticipated the Baggies summer spending will comfortably break previous club records.

But with every other club in the top flight benefitting from a surge in prize money during the first year of a new TV deal, Pulis knows they won’t be the only ones active in a busy market.

Asked if it would now require Albion to spend a lot of money simply to stand still, he replied: “Yes, without being too dramatic. I think it’s going to cost more money every year to improve, that’s the way it is.

“But you have to get the right players. It’s not just about bringing players in and spending money, you have to spend the money in the right way and they have to be the right characters and the right players.

“The important thing is they have to be players who are going to be in your starting XI and that moves everything forward.

“We’ve done that over the last couple of years and if we can do that again this summer it will improve us again.”

Albion’s targets include William Carvalho, with Pulis having recently travelled to Portugal to watch the Sporting Lisbon midfielder in action.

He also remains keen on landing former England skipper John Terry, with the 36-year-old set to be a free transfer after leaving Chelsea. The Baggies are meanwhile eager to negotiate a fee with Leeds for Charlie Taylor to avoid the risk of a tribunal for the 23-year-old left-back.

Albion’s total prize money for the season stood at £120million, though they lost just under £4million by dropping from eighth to tenth following the final day 2-1 defeat at Swansea.