West Brom boss Steve Bruce expecting Premier League loans to 'click into gear'

Albion are looking to boost their ranks before the transfer deadline at the end of this month and it is expected they will be looking to take loans from top flight outfits.

The Baggies boss admitted it has been a ‘quiet’ week on the recruitment front, but has sensed the cogs beginning to turn as Premier League clubs – beginning their league campaigns this weekend – allow talented youngsters to move out on loan.

“No, we haven’t. It’s been pretty quiet,” Bruce said when asked for a transfer update. “There’s still a month to go, I believe it’s just starting – the big clubs are talking about their young players and who they’re going to let out, so it’s just starting. It’s a bit like us too, we’ve let three or four out. That filters all the way down as well.”

Albion have enjoyed some success with youthful loans in recent years, including Conor Gallagher, Harvey Barnes and Grady Diangana.

Bruce added of the pursuit of top young players: “It’s not a scramble, we were doing our homework on the Bosmans. I’ll go on record now (and say) we had Swifty (John Swift) at the last game of the season.

“You’re aware and have done your homework on them, you’re just waiting to see if the big clubs say yes or no, basically, when they pick their squad.

“A lot of them let the young players out. We’ve seen the left-back at Burnley, from Chelsea, they’ve got him.

“It’s a market we’re aware of, you’ve just got to be patient and wait, which is always difficult.

“Of course we’d like to think (we’re the ideal place), we used it very well a couple of years ago with Gallagher at Chelsea and the kid’s kicked on enormously since then.

“It helps, that’s why they do it, it helps the development of a young player.

“So we’d like to think we give them a good home.”