West Brom in race with Burnley for former loan favourite Mikey Johnston from Celtic as decision imminent

The Baggies have kept tabs on the Republic of Ireland international all summer and have fought Burnley for the Celtic winger's signature as both lodged accepted bids of around £3million and personal terms have been agreed.

Johnston has said bye to his Celtic team-mates and it is understood a decision is imminent. A lengthy contract is on the table and has been agreed in principle.

Albion head coach Carlos Corberan is a huge fan of the trickster and has been determined to bring last season's loan star to The Hawthorns on a permanent basis.

Johnston, 25, had two years left on his contract at Celtic Park and Albion's significant seven-figure bid matched the offer made by Championship rivals Burnley.

The move is completely unrelated to interest in Albion's Tom Fellows and is not reliant on the fellow winger leaving The Hawthorns, despite recent interest from Premier League new boys Southampton and Ipswich. Albion are insistent they do not plan to sell Fellows.

There was also interest this summer from Sheffield United.

The winger netted seven goals in 20 games for the Baggies in the second half of last season as he thrilled with electric displays and became a firm favourite.

Academy graduate Johnston was made available by Celtic this summer who looked to move the winger on in a permanent deal. Another loan away from Parkhead was unlikely as Celtic fought to bring in funds from the academy graduate.

He featured regularly in friendlies and played 15 minutes against Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership earlier this month.

Johnston's capture would be a significant deal for Albion and their Bilkul Football WBA ownership group.

Albion have paid transfer fees for two of their nine new recruits so far this summer, around £525,000 on Torbjorn Heggem, while Barnsley's Callum Styles arrived for an undisclosed fee having entered the final year of his Tykes deal.

The club have recouped fees for several key senior squad members this summer as the club looked to balance the books and remain within a financial fair play framework.

They have also supported Corberan in rebuilding a competitive squad and Johnston would be a key recruit for the head coach and a big outlay for the club. The Baggies have so far made nine signings this summer.

It was expected that a centre-forward would be the main focus of Albion's final week in the market prior to Friday night's transfer deadline.

Johnston mainly operated from the left flank last term and would compete with the likes of Grady Diangana and new loan recruit Lewis Dobbin for the position.