West Bromwich Albion stepped up their preparations for the upcoming Championship campaign by defeating Woking in a pre-season friendly last Friday.
A late strike from Kenneth Zohore sealed a 1-0 victory for Valerien Ismael's side who will be back in action tomorrow when they face Sheffield Wednesday.
Drafted in as a replacement for Sam Allardyce, Ismael will be tasked with guiding the Baggies to an immediate return to the Premier League next year.
The Frenchman has already put his own stamp on his squad by recently securing the services of Alex Mowatt and Matt Clarke.
Not content with these two signings, Ismael has recently been linked with a swoop for a player who delivered a host of impressive displays in this division last season.
A report from The Athletic yesterday suggested that West Brom are keeping tabs on Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane ahead of a potential move this summer.
The 30-year-old, who is understood to be attracting interest from Sheffield United, played a significant role in helping Swansea City reach the Championship play-off final earlier this year.
Following Villa's decision to loan him out to the Jacks, Hourihane made a positive impact for the club as he managed to find the back of the net on five occasions in 22 league appearances.
The midfielder also chipped in with two assists for his former team-mates before returning to the West Midlands.
In a fresh update concerning Hourihane's future, it has now been revealed that West Brom will be opting against making a move for the Republic of Ireland international.
According to the Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi, the Baggies will not be pursuing a move this summer for the midfielder whose current deal at Villa Park expires in 2022.
GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...
Although West Brom have managed to bolster their options in central midfield by signing Mowatt, they may need to add draft in another fresh face in this particular position following the departures of Rekeem Harper, Sam Field and Okay Yokuslu.
As well as being directly involved in seven league goals for Swansea during the previous campaign, Hourihane also managed to average a respectable WhoScored match rating of 6.76 in the Championship.
Considering that the midfielder has made 145 appearances at this level during his career, he may have been an asset to West Brom's side as he clearly knows what it takes to succeed in this division.
However, with Hourihane seemingly not on his list of potential targets, it will be intriguing to see whether Ismael is able to sign a player who possesses a similar amount of talent to the Villa man between now and the end of the transfer window.
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