James Morrison: Nicolas Anelka brings star appeal

Now the Baggies star reckons Nicolas Anelka can have the same effect at the Hawthorns as Fabrizio Ravanelli did on Teesside.

Morrison is ready to line up alongside Anelka when Steve Clarke's men kick off their pre-season programme against Hannover in Gleisdorf tonight.

And the Scotland international hopes the French star can raise the bar as the Baggies target more new faces ahead of the Premier League's big kick-off on August 17.

He remembers how Ravanelli and Juninho did that when they arrived at the Riverside Stadium in the mid-1990s.

But the 27-year-old is backing the Baggies to maintain their impressive improvement and avoid the slide that has since hit Boro.

Morrison eventually graduated into the Boro first team and helped the North East club reach the UEFA Cup final.

He said: "I was still in the youth team when Ravanelli was there and we used to be ball boys, which is how I got a love of the club.

"Boro went to Wembley a couple of times, they won the League Cup and got to the semi-final and the final of the UEFA Cup.

"The big names did a good job there and it rubbed off on the youth-team upwards.

"A lot of good young players came through at the time. Training with those sort of names give you that motivation to get into the team.

"When I first broke into the Middlesbrough team there were players like Southgate, Ehiogu, Mendieta – Juninho had just left – Hasselbaink, Yakubu, Viduka.

"We were in Europe at that time and the more games we had the better it was for the young players coming through.

"We got our chances through injuries and fortunately we were good young players and took our chances. Middlesbrough wasn't known for attracting those sort of players.

"But the chairman pumped a lot of money in and it lifted the place – it was a sell-out almost every week. If you look at it now, there's a big contrast.

"At West Brom, we have been steady here for a number of seasons now. Finishing eighth – where can we go from here?

"Can we go higher and what will that take – that's the question the club will have to ask.

"The players are fully committed and have been for a number of seasons, which is why we have done so well with the group of players we have had.

"The European places are something to aim for and the signing of Nicolas is the first step towards that. The club are going in the right direction.

"If they can bring a few more of the calibre of Nicolas, then that will put us in good stead."

Anelka is expected to make his first public appearance in a Baggies shirt against tonight's Bundesliga opponents.

He set up the opening goal in Saturday's behind-closed-doors 4-0 win against Tamworth at the West Brom training ground.