Why West Brom must land £4m Ipswich man

West Bromwich Albion head coach James Morrison made two swift moves to bolster his options at the top end of the pitch when the summer transfer window opened for business.

Jimmy-Jay Morgan was brought in from Premier League giants Chelsea for a fee of £4m after he spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Peterborough United in League One.

The Baggies also moved to sign Barney Stewart from Falkirk on a permanent deal after he scored 16 goals in all competitions last season for Falkirk and Dunfermline combined.

Morrison needed to add more quality to his forward line after his side only scored 48 goals in 46 matches in the Championship last term, barely averaging more than one goal per game.

Why Morgan and Stewart are risky signings for West Brom

Morgan and Stewart have already shown glimpses of what they are capable of in a Baggies shirt, as they both scored in the 4-1 win over Bromley in a pre-season friendly earlier this month.

Despite scoring for West Brom already, though, both players remain risky additions to the squad because they do not have any experience in the Championship.

Stewart, despite being born in London, does not have any experience in senior English football, and was playing in the second division in Scotland as recently as the first half of the 2025/26 campaign.

Morgan, meanwhile, played his first season of senior football last year in the third tier, and it remains to be seen if he can carry his goalscoring form over to the Championship.

Both players are making a step-up to a level that they have never played at before, and the Baggies are banking on them both being able to shine so that their attack is given the lift that it needs.

How West Brom could seal their signing of the summer

Whilst Morgan and Stewart are risky signing who may not step up to the Championship level, the board are looking at another signing who would come with more of a guarantee.

WestBromXtra on X reports that West Bromwich Albion are interested in a deal to sign Ipswich Town goalkeeper Alex Palmer in the summer transfer window.

The Baggies, who sold the stopper to the Tractor Boys for £4m last year, have identified the Englishman as their number one target for the goalkeeper position.

It is said that talks have already taken place about what a deal could look like, whilst the 29-year-old star is ‘very open’ to returning to the club ahead of next season.

West Brom could take advantage of his potential availability, thanks to Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League and their desire to bring in new goalkeepers, and sign an upgrade on Max O’Leary.

Whilst it remains to be seen if Morgan or Stewart are good enough for the Championship, Palmer has already proven that he is a star goalkeeper in the second tier.

In his last full season at The Hawthorns, the experienced titan shared the Golden Glove award with Leeds United’s Illan Meslier, keeping 18 clean sheets in 46 appearances.

He then kept 11 clean sheets in 30 matches in the Championship in the first half of the 2024/25 campaign for the Baggies, before joining Premier League side Ipswich for £4m in the January transfer window.

Despite leaving the league midway through the season, Palmer still kept more clean sheets than O’Leary managed (ten) in 46 matches for Bristol City that term.

The Ipswich stopper has proven that he is an even better Championship goalkeeper than O’Leary, as evidenced by their respective form when they were at West Brom and Bristol City, which is why he could walk into Morrison’s side as the number one.

He would be as close to a guaranteed success as you can get in the transfer market, because he is an experienced Championship performer who has been there and done it, even in a West Brom shirt already.

That is why he would be an even better signing for the club than Morgan and Stewart, as Palmer would not come with the same risk that their deals have attached to them.