Albion interested in Brazilian midfielder Josef de Souza

The 28-year-old is a 6ft 2in Brazilian international who can also play right-back.

Souza started his career at Brazilian club Vasco Da Gama and then spent two years at Portuguese giants Porto before heading back to Brazil to play for Gremio.

He then joined Sao Paulo before moving to Turkish club Fenerbahce in 2015.

Pulis is a fan of Souza, who has three caps for Brazil, because of his athleticism and versatility.

But the midfielder does not hold an EU passport and so the Baggies need to secure him a work permit to play in the Premier League, putting pressure on a deal to be done to be done early this week.

Pulis prefers to buy players with Premier League experience, but the inflated fees in the English market has encouraged him to look further afield.

"We've got money to spend from what we made last year, and hopefully we will be doing that before deadline day," said Pulis. "The problem we have now is that the English market is getting even tougher.

"So we might have to take a chance on a couple of players from abroad, when you do that it's a risk.

"When I sign in England, I speak to everybody about the players, find out what they are like as players and individuals within a group and by themselves - that has always been a big part of my selection process."

Albion are expeted to make one more permanent signing unless Nacer Chadli or Jonny Evans are sold.

Evans missed Sunday's 1-1 draw with Stoke with a hamstring problem but time is running out for Manchester City to return with another bid.

The Baggies board - who value the skipper at £30m - do not want to risk selling him so near the deadline that it doesn't allow them to bring in Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool to replace him.

Evans addressed the speculation surrounding his future in yesterday's programme notes, saying: "Until anybody tells me different, I'm committed to the Albion, and I'm only thinking about getting in this team.

"It's a great club, and I'm proud to be captain. For me, all I'm thinking about is getting fit."

Chadli was an unused substitute yesterday but Swansea have not yet met Albion's £25m valuation.