Old firm duo linked with Albion

Boyd and Caldwell are two tempting targets for low-end Premier League and leading Championship clubs as both are out of contract next summer with major question marks about their futures.

Albion are viewed as a potential destination for both and sources at the club confirm that the Baggies are "fully aware" of their potential availability. But that is still some distance from the duo becoming confirmed targets.

There is no new offer on the table for striker Boyd even though he wants to stay at Glasgow Rangers and his exit is seen as an opportunity for a high wage-earner to be removed from a club crippled by £31million in debts.

Defender Caldwell is in dispute with Glasgow Celtic about his wages and it is thought he may be allowed to leave in January as former Baggies boss Tony Mowbray reshapes his team.

Both players have already been linked with moves to the Midlands with Birmingham manager Alex McLeish particularly interested in adding Boyd to his contingent of Scottish forwards.

Ex-Villa striker Vassell, looking for a route out of Turkish football, is searching for potential clubs back on his home patch of the Midlands – and Albion were immediately linked to a move for the player.

But the 29-year-old, forced to leave his Ankara hotel after his club Ankaragucu failed to pay the bill, will not find Albion bidding for his services.

The club have also denied plans for a bid for one-time Walsall striker Matty Fryatt, scoring freely for Leicester at the moment, and dismissed last week's speculation that as many as three Polish players were on Di Matteo's radar for a January move.