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Allardyce boosts West Brom with another signing before transfer deadline

West Brom have completed the loan deal of midfielder Okay Yokuslu for the rest of the season.

Albion and boss, Sam Allardyce, have been desperate to add extra midfield competition to their ranks before the January transfer window deadline, and they’ve managed to do so by acquiring the services of Turkish midfielder Yokuslu from La Liga outfit Celta Vigo.

It’s a straight loan deal, the kind of deal that Albion have had to work hard to achieve because of how hamstrung they’ve been financially this month, but they’ve seen off competition from elsewhere in Spain to land Yokuslu.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, hopefully, he won’t hear this, but in the past Luka Milivojevic at Crystal Palace made a massive difference in that position – sitting midfield, protecting the back four which is massive for us because we concede too many goals,” Allardyce said.

“But also his passing ability – both short and long range – is what we have been looking at. Obviously, would he come to us? Would he leave Spain to come and join our fight? It appears he will.

“I think that shows just how hard the pandemic has hit everyone. If he – like Mbaye – is willing to come to the Premier League and fight with us it shows you that we have probably been a little fortunate in this window and taken advantage of it and get players of their calibre to come and join us.

“Taking advantage of the pandemic is what I think we have done and to get them on loan has been a long haul, but to get two players on loan with this sort of quality, I think is really great for all the hard work we have done behind the scenes.

“It’s been a tough old negotiation. Yes as a manager I would have liked them in quicker – absolutely I would have. Would it have made a difference? Who knows, but the important thing is that we get them in the end because there is obviously 17 games to go, and hopefully points and wins will come more often than defeats – that will be the key element.

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