West Brom 'missed a chance' with group of talented academy graduates says Tony Pulis

However, in that same summer Albion went and spent more than £20m on young players.

Zhang Yuning arrived at the club from Vitesse for £6m, in a move entirely funded by owner Guochuan Lai, in the hope he would become a Baggies star or be sold for a profit.

That same summer, Albion paid £15m to RB Leipzig for Oliver Burke. The forward, the club's fourth most expensive signing of all time, flopped and scored once in 24 appearances across three seasons.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Baggies Broadcast, former Albion boss Tony Pulis revealed how Burke wasn't ''100 per cent his signing' and the club wanted to focus on paying out more money for potentially top talent.

He explained: "All of a sudden there was this recruitment phase that everyone seems to have bought into, but then it was new to me.

"There were certainly players coming in who, they had told me about, and they thought they would be good investments they would be able to sell on.

"I think Burky was one, I was not 100 per cent convinced on him but it was the way the club wanted to go."

For Pulis, rather than go out and spend millions on potential talent that may not deliver, he believes the club should have focussed more on their own youngsters.

And he insists that a big opportunity was missed with a talented group of youngsters.

He said: "For me, I thought we had Leko, Edwards, Kane Wilson, Sam Field, Tyler Roberts, a real good young group there, who with the likes of Fletcher, Barry, Evans, they could have helped them.

"We had them dipping in and out, playing in the League Cup, and I was much happier doing that than investing in these players the club thought they may get a big return on.

"They were a good group, who needed a bit more encouragement and involvement, and it is probably an area where the club really missed a chance."

Listen to the full interview with Pulis on the Baggies Broadcast, available on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple from Tuesday.