West Brom make approach for Wigan's Cedric Kipre

The Paris-born centre-back looks certain to leave the Latics who were placed in administration back in July.

Kipre has been in talks with Blackburn Rovers with the 23-year-old believed to be available for around £900,000.

But Albion have now jumped into the race with the lure of Premier League football likely to be too much for Kipre to turn down.

But while the Baggies have made contact with Wigan’s administrators, it is understood they haven’t yet made a formal bid for the ex-Leicester man – despite reports to the contrary.

Albion remain in the hunt for Brighton centre-back Shane Duffy.

West Ham, Burnley and Celtic are also in the running for the Republic of Ireland international however, with Duffy thought to favour a move to Scotland.

With Wigan in administration, it will be fairly straight-forward for Albion to agree a fee for Kipre if they do decide to bid.

And that means they may be waiting until Duffy has made his decision as to where he will be playing next season before they make a formal offer.

Meanwhile, it seems highly likely the Baggies will miss out on signing QPR’s Eberechi Eze – with reports suggesting he has turned down a move to The Hawthorns in favour of joining Crystal Palace.

It was revealed on Wednesday Albion had entered the race to sign Eze. The Baggies had an offer of in the region of £16million accepted by QPR which would have seen them pay the London side £4million a year for four years.

The bid also gave The Hoops a significant sell-on clause.

But the Greenwich-born star is reluctant to move out of London. And that has put Palace at the front of the queue with Eze reportedly set to sign a four year deal at Selhurst Park.

Elsewhere, former Albion coach Michael Appleton – who is now in charge of Lincoln – has confirmed he wants to sign Baggies duo Alex Palmer and Callum Morton on loan.

“The reality is we need another goalkeeper – it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that Alex Palmer would definitely be one of those people,” Appleton said.

“He’s not just going to be on our list he’s going to be on a lot of people’s lists.

“He’s a top quality goalkeeper. We are looking for another top quality goalkeeper to bring into the club.

“It’s the same with Callum, I think there’s going to be numerous clubs as well, similar to Alex where they’re going to try to acquire their services.”

“Hopefully my relationship with West Brom and knowing the players personally will give us a decent opportunity to try and get them.”