Will West Bromwich Albion be promotion challengers again when the 2025/26 season gets underway in the Championship?
That’s the question likely wracking the brains of Baggies fans far and wide, with nobody quite sure how Ryan Mason will deal with the pressures of the Hawthorns hot-seat, considering experienced manager Tony Mowbray struggled back at the helm last campaign.
Mowbray, unfortunately, sank the West Brom ship instead of steadying it as a playoff spot slipped disastrously out of their grasp.
On the contrary, Mason will hope he can guide his new side to a top-six finish or even higher, with the sparkling potential addition of a seasoned Championship pro helping his chances as a rookie boss.
West Brom have former Championship star on their radar
As per a new report from TEAMTalk, West Brom have ex-Derby County star Tom Lawrence very much on their radar.
His free agent status after walking away from Rangers has alerted numerous clubs to his services, however, with both Wrexham and Coventry City named as other suitors eyeing up the 31-year-old.
The ambitious Red Dragons could well be in the driver’s seat over landing his signature, considering Lawrence does hail from Wrexham, but West Brom are said to still be keen even as Phil Parkinson’s men sniff around.
How Lawrence could be their next Wallace
If West Brom were to knock Wrexham off their pedestal and win his services, Mason could be about to land the Baggies’ next Jed Wallace, with the accomplished attacker arriving at the Hawthorns back in 2022 with plenty of EFL know-how to show off, much like Lawrence will be desperate to provide.
Wallace would also enter into his new environment all those years ago on a shrewd free transfer, with Millwall left to curse the 31-year-old running his contract down at the Den.
The Lions’ short-term agony ended up being West Brom’s gain, however, with an impressive tally of six goals and eight assists mustered up by Wallace during his debut league campaign in the West Midlands.
His output has since dwindled, with only two goal contributions coming his way across the entire course of last season, but there will be hope that Lawrence’s experience of the Championship, which is of the same stature as Wallace’s, means he can instantly hit the ground running with Albion if he signs.
After all, the free agent is only 82 appearances shy of Wallace’s hefty 346 appearances in the intimidating division, with his goal and assist numbers across those 264 clashes even closer to the esteemed Baggies’ captain’s bumper haul.
|
Lawrence’s G/A numbers in the Championship by season |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Club played for |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
21/22 |
Derby County |
38 |
11 |
5 |
|
20/21 |
Derby County |
23 |
3 |
2 |
|
19/20 |
Derby County |
37 |
10 |
4 |
|
18/19 |
Derby County |
33 |
6 |
4 |
|
17/18 |
Derby County |
39 |
6 |
8 |
|
16/17 |
Ipswich Town |
34 |
9 |
11 |
|
15/16 |
Cardiff City |
14 |
0 |
1 |
|
15/16 |
Blackburn Rovers |
21 |
2 |
2 |
|
14/15 |
Rotherham United |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
13/14 |
Yeovil Town |
19 |
2 |
2 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
||||
Much like Wallace, who had to wait to find his groove with Millwall, Lawrence really kicked into gear as a devastating Championship-level attacker with Derby County, as seen in him amassing 59 of his overall 90 goal contributions donning Rams white.
To add context, his equally experienced counterpart boasts 14 more goal contributions in total in the second-tier, with 76 of those coming about in South East London.
Hailed as an “excellent” professional by Rangers coach David McCallum, with a promising 12 strikes next to his name at Ibrox even as he enters the twilight years of his playing days, this could be a move that reawakens a beast out of Lawrence to cause Championship defences headaches all over again.
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