Tony Pulis confident West Brom will have stronger negotiating position this summer
Tony Pulis is confident Albion will hold a stronger negotiating position in the transfer window this summer – despite their poor run of form down the home stretch of the season.
The Baggies have lost six of their last eight games and failed to score in seven of those fixtures, leaving a top 10 finish in serious doubt.
But Pulis believes potential players will still see the club, which has sat in eighth place throughout 2017, as a stable prospect on the rise.
When he was asked if a disappointing finish to the season would affect transfer business, Pulis said: “I don't think so.
“I think we've done enough this year for people to realise the club is moving in the right direction. That's nice for everybody.”
The head coach is also much happier with his relationships behind the scenes with the new regime.
Last summer, Albion struggled to land their top targets, resulting in a terse public exchange between Pulis and the then-new chairman John Williams over how successful the window was.
Williams claimed the club brought in the five players Pulis had wanted but one of those signings was Brendan Galloway on loan and another was free agent Hal Robson-Kanu and so the Welshman responded: “To try and say they were the five that I wanted, that's wrong.”
However, the pair have since formed a working relationship and Pulis says everyone is now on the same page when it comes to transfer strategy.
“I think it was different then because there was a changeover of chairmanship so there's much more stability now at the football club,” he said.
“I think there will be a better direction and a better understanding of what we at the football club need, whereas last year I think because of the changeover, people were caught up in the vacuum really and it didn't help.”
Last summer, Albion managed to buy Matt Phillips from Queens Park Rangers early in the window but the majority of their business was done late on and Pulis expects it to be the same this time around.
“I would love to be sat here now and say as soon as the seasons finished, we can get the players we want in straight away but that never happens,” said Pulis. “Clubs want bigger prices at the beginning, agents hang around to see if they can get better clubs, better money from other people. It's very difficult to do early deals.”
