West Brom sit mid-table in the big spenders league

But a table produced by the people at Sporting Intelligence suggests the Baggies are currently sitting mid-table in net-spend this window.

The £19.8million spent so far this summer on permanent deals for Jay Rodriguez (£12m) and Yuning Zhang (£7.8m) puts them 11th, ahead of several of their rivals.

The Baggies insist the money paid for Zhang – who is on loan at Werder Bremen for two years – came from a separate pot to Tony Pulis’s budget.

But even if he is removed from the total, Albion have still shelled out more than Southampton, Crystal Palace, Everton, Swansea, Burnley (even with the Andre Gray transfer included), Stoke, and Tottenham.

All of those clubs, save Spurs and perhaps Everton, are Albion’s rivals in mid-table.

But what these figures prove is how crippling it is for Tony Pulis having no players he can make money on.

Promoted sides Brighton and Huddersfield are the only other clubs yet to make a penny on player sales this summer. Everton sit below the Baggies in this table despite spending nearly £100m on an array of talent because they sold Romelu Lukaku for a huge price.

The Baggies did make £14m in January from the sales of Saido Berahino and Craig Gardner but the majority of that went on Jake Livermore in that window, and this summer they are struggling to off-loading unwanted winger Callum McManaman.

It seems ludicrous that money is tight following a season that yielded £120m of prize money. But the problem Albion have is how much of the club’s cash is eaten up by wages. According to the last available figures, three-quarters of the turnover was spent on salaries.

Not that this table necessarily tells the whole story. Stoke may not have spent anything in transfer fees so far, but they have brought in four new players.

Darren Fletcher, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Josh Tymon have all joined on frees, while Kurt Zouma arrived on loan.

Not included in the table is the £8m loan fee the Potters are paying to Chelsea and the extra year of wages they were willing to give Fletcher.

Pulis continues to hold out for the best deals, but at some point before the window shuts, he will need to take the plunge. Because one permanent signing and one loan deal will not be enough.