Carlos Corberan reveals his four crucial tests of West Brom character

The Spaniard has been working with the club’s new head of football operations Ian Pearce to devise a strategy for his second transfer window at The Hawthorns.

Head coach Corberan has acknowledged the club must sell players and will be working on a tighter budget than before due to the club’s financial situation.

But he is confident Pearce, recently promoted from head of recruitment who oversees Albion’s scouting network, can deliver the targets he needs.

Corberan said: “We have created four criteria for new signings. For me, it’s very important that every player we bring in meets the criteria.

“One, is the quality. To be a football player and a West Bromwich Albion player you have to have quality, but in this club the supporters like their team to be dominant and to be protagonists with the ball.

“This is a feeling I have about how to play to football, so the quality is an important skill that they all need to have.

“Another important skill is the desire. They need to have ambition and desire to improve and help their team improve.

“I want them to have the desire to give their best for the fans and for the club. It’s another important value.

“Another one for me is energy. In football, you need energy to compete. You need to have the energy to show the other skills such as the quality and the desire every few days.

“Another important value is personality. It’s not easy to play in our stadium full of people. You have to have personality to be able to deal with that.

“This season, having big personality is going to make a massive difference because we are going to play in some very, very big stadiums against tough opponents. You need to have the personality to show the desire, the skills, the energy and ambition that you have.

“For me, we have these four criteria which are very important. It’s not easy to find all of these things and you need to make sure you are carrying out good searches.

“I strongly believe in Ian Pearce and his people to put names on the table of players who meet the criteria.”

Corberan also paid tribute to Albion’s departed chief executive Ron Gourlay, while expressing confidence in managing director Mark Miles, who has taken on the former CEO’s responsibilities.

Gourlay was responsible for appointing Corberan as Steve Bruce’s successor last October and the pair enjoyed a strong relationship.

Corberan said: “I need to thank him for his determination to bring me here and he made me very proud to be here.

“However, in life, you have to adapt to different situations. Football is exactly the same. We need to adapt to the new challenges and the new scenario.

“Mark, for me, is very important because he is someone from inside the club and someone who knows the values of our club very well. He has been working for close to 20 years in the club and he knows what it means to be a West Bromwich Albion fan and support the club.

“He’ll know every detail of the club perfectly.

“It’s a pity to not have Ron as part of the process anymore, but at the same time, we have someone in Mark who I know will support the work I do with Ian. We need to make everything work well.”