West Brom to pay Leeds for Charlie Taylor and remove uncertainty of tribunal

The 23-year-old is out of contract this summer and could arrive at The Hawthorns on a free transfer, but because he's under 24, the Baggies will be forced to stump up compensation money.

So in order to remove any financial uncertainties down the line, the Baggies are now in negotiations with Leeds about doing a compensation deal before tribunal.

Albion are close to agreeing terms with Taylor, who is set to sign a pre-contract agreement with the Baggies before his Leeds contract officially expires at the end of June.

Although the club don't need to agree a fee with Leeds before Taylor joins, the club is keen to know exactly how much he costs them before signing him.

"It could go to a tribunal but our club would rather try and sort a deal out with Leeds if we're going to do it," said Baggies boss Tony Pulis. "So there's still a lot of air in that bag before anything is achieved."

Director of Football Administration Richard Garlick is now leading the negotiations with the Championship club, whose season finished last weekend.

Liverpool and Burnley have also been linked with Taylor but Albion have been chasing him for 12 months and are in the box-seat.

Pulis won't know the exact extent of his summer budget until he meets Chinese owner Guochuan Lai in Shanghai after the season finishes.

However, several members of Lai's investment group, Yunyi Guokai Sports Development Ltd, will be attending tomorrow's match against Chelsea and Pulis is due to talk to them about his transfer budget after the game.

Albion's head coach has been linked with Middlesbrough's Ben Gibson but denied contacting Boro since their relegation was confirmed on Monday night.

"No we won't be doing any of that," he said. "We've not spoken to anybody at Middlesbrough about Ben Gibson. If we had, we wouldn't tell you, but seriously we've not spoken to anyone there."

The Baggies host Chelsea at The Hawthorns tomorrow night knowing Antonio Conte's team can win the title should they win.

However, if Albion win they will hit 48 points, securing their second-best ever points tally in the Premier League.

"Obviously then we go to Man City and finish with Swansea," said Pulis. "That’s three very competitive games and we as a club have a responsibility to make sure we put as much into those three games as we have all season."

The Premier League trophy will not be at The Hawthorns, regardless of the result, because the league prefer clubs to lift it at their home grounds if possible.