West Brom's Morrison Pursues Collyer Deal as Tunde Joins

James Morrison has West Bromwich Albion moving early in the Championship – and he has no intention of easing off before the transfer window slams shut.

The head coach is “hopeful” of further additions before the 1 September deadline, with the club close to wrapping up a deal worth up to £7.6m to bring Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer back to The Hawthorns on a permanent basis.

Collyer impressed during his loan spell in the first half of last season, and Albion have been in talks with United for weeks about re-signing him. Now, the finish line is in sight. For a squad already purring after two wins from two, it feels like another significant piece dropping into place.

Tunde’s pace changes the picture

While the Collyer negotiations edge towards completion, Morrison has been getting a closer look at the club’s latest arrival, Spanish winger Kareem Tunde, signed from Levante this week.

“It’s a big opportunity for him, coming to a new culture, still only being 21,” Morrison told BBC Radio WM. “He’s an exciting prospect and an exciting player, so we’re delighted to have him.

“It just gives us different options now and I felt like we’ve always missed that little bit in games where we could stretch our opposition and he’s got that pace and power that we’ve been looking for.”

That pace is exactly what Albion have lacked in recent seasons. Tunde becomes the eighth new face through the door this summer, but Morrison is not treating him as the final flourish. The rebuild is still active, still aggressive.

“I am hopeful,” he said when asked about more signings. “There’s been a lot of hard work been going on behind the scenes. We have to do things a little bit differently, we have to be clever about it and I felt that we’ve been doing that because we’ve had a lot of signings.”

Clever, because Albion are operating without the financial muscle of some of their promotion rivals. Busy, because Morrison knows a strong start needs depth to become a serious campaign.

Flying start, stern test

Two games, two wins. It is early, but the tone has been set. Morrison talks about “finishing touches” to his squad, yet the foundations already look solid.

Now comes a fixture that means more to him than most. West Brom travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday, last season’s beaten play-off finalists and the club where Morrison’s own playing career began.

He does not dress it up as a sentimental homecoming. Those days have gone.

“I’ve been back many times and played, so I’m over that,” he said. “I can remember my first one going back and I was all over the place, I was terrible. So I learnt from that experience.

“I think my last time there as a player, I ended up scoring and I still remember that feeling. So I’m really looking forward to the game, but also I know this is going to be one of the toughest away fixtures we’ll face.

“But they’ve [the Albion players] set a standard now and they can’t let it drop.”

A squad being reshaped, a midfield target close, a winger with raw pace just through the door – and an early-season marker to lay down at the club where it all started for their head coach. The window has weeks left, but Morrison’s intent is already unmistakable.