WEST Bromwich Albion yesterday broke their transfer record for the second time this summer by signing Robert Earnshaw, from Cardiff City, for £3 million and promptly set their sights on strengthening their squad further by bidding to bring Junichi Inamoto, the Japan midfield player, to The Hawthorns.
Earnshaw, the Wales forward, signed a three-year contract as Albion took their spending to £9.4 million since gaining promotion to the Barclays Premiership in May. Gary Megson, the manager, had already set a club record when he paid FC Copenhagen £2.7 million for Martin Albrechtsen. Earnshaw’s fee could rise to £3.625 million with various clauses.
Earnshaw will join his new team-mates after Wales’s World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan this weekend, and his Premiership career will begin away to Liverpool a week on Saturday. “I have been waiting for this chance and West Brom have given it to me,” Earnshaw said. “This has been my ambition, especially after playing for Wales on the international stage. I know I have got to work hard and I am not taking anything for granted.”
Mark Hughes, the Wales manager, is convinced that Earnshaw, 23, can score goals in the Premiership. “Earnie has scored goals at international level and that is usually a good indication of how good a player is,” Hughes said. “I don’t think he has anything to fear when he gets into the Premiership. He will prove he can score.”
Megson is eager to add goals to a side that scored only 29 times in their previous spell in the Premiership two years ago, and also wants more craft in his squad. Inamoto, 24, would fit the bill after spending three seasons in the Premiership on loan from Gamba Osaka with, firstly, Arsenal and, over the past two seasons, Fulham. The Japan midfield player is recovering at present after breaking an ankle playing against England in June.
Advertisement
Arsenal are in talks to sign Miguel Ángel Angulo, the Valencia midfield player. They have reportedly agreed a fee of about £3.4 million for the 27-year-old, with personal terms under discussion. “I think he will go, but he is the one who has to decide. I can’t tell him anything, I have to respect his wishes,” Claudio Ranieri, the Valencia coach, said.
Massimo Maccarone, the Middlesbrough striker, is set to join Parma on a season-long loan. Rangers have failed to sign Hakan Yakin, the Switzerland midfield player, from VfB Stuttgart after the parties failed to agree terms.
Tottenham Hotspur have signed Calum Davenport, the highly rated Coventry City central defender, for £1.1 million. The fee for the 21-year-old may rise to £3 million, depending on appearances.
The England Under-21 player is the eleventh signing since David Pleat’s departure as director of football at White hart Lane at the end of last season. Frank Arnesen, Tottenham’s sporting director, said: “He’s a great talent with special qualities, a very promising central defender who possesses a good mentality.”