West Brom's Matheus Pereira deal to become permanent

The Brazilian joined the Baggies on loan from Sporting Lisbon back in August and as since been hailed by fans and pundits as the best player in the Championship.

As well as putting in a string of eye-catching displays, Pereira has scored six goals and registered an incredible 16 assists this season.

Albion initially paid Lisbon a £725,000 loan fee to being Pereira to The Hawthorns. But that deal gave them the right to purchase him at any time for £8.25million.

Pereira’s sensational displays ensured the Baggies were always going to turn his loan move into a permanent transfer – with personal terms having already been agreed with the 23-year-old.

But in the original loan agreement, Lisbon insisted on a clause where Albion have to buy the player once he has made 30 Championship appearances of 45 minutes or more.

It means if Pereira does not miss any of Albion’s next five games, he will officially become a Baggies player after the visit of Blues on March 14.

Pereira’s fortunes with the Baggies are in complete contrast to Oliver Burke who is currently on loan with Spanish side Alaves.

The Scotland international has made just 20 appearances for the Baggies since joining the club for a reported £15million in August 2017.

Back in November, the 22-year-old said he hopes his move to Spain will ‘put him in the shop window’ with the forward admitting he doesn’t feel part of the set-up at The Hawthorns. And in an interview with Scottish paper The Daily Record, Burke has again made it clear he feels his future is elsewhere.

“For me, right now I’d like to find myself a club where I can settle, enjoy and play week-in, week-out,” he said.

“And find my confidence again, which I’m slowly getting back, to prove all the doubters out there wrong.

“There’s a lot of doubters out there – there’s always going to be – but I’d love to throw it back in their face a little bit.

“Hopefully I can do my best here at Alaves and I’ll have a bright future.”

Burke became the first Scot to score in La Liga in over 33 years last week as he bagged the winner in Alaves’ 2-1 victory over Eibar.

But he says he’s endured a lot of low moments in football over the past few years – with many of them arriving following his move to Albion.

“It sort of started when I made the move to West Brom,” Burke continued.

“With the manager change and getting the injury at the beginning everything gets on top of you. Not playing as much, not even being part of the team. You feel left out. You do lose that love for the game.

“Obviously I was coming into training, and as soon as I was out on the pitch I loved it. But it’s when you come away, you go back home, you overthink everything. You think ‘why am I not playing?’, ‘what do I need to do better?’

“But it’s part of the game, you just have to learn, push yourself forward and know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

“Yes, I did lose some love for the game, but playing again like I am now, I’m really happy and I love it again. It’s a great feeling.”