A week or so has passed since West Bromwich Albion's retained list was released, and there weren't any major shocks present.

While Daryl Dike did enjoy a purple patch of goalscoring form towards the latter stages of the Championship campaign just gone, his recurring injury issues mean he will walk away from the Hawthorns at the end of the month, alongside another long-standing club servant, Jed Wallace.

A well-needed reset is taking place, therefore, with James Morrison hoping he can be the manager who can turn the Baggies back into promotion challengers in the Championship.

Several new signings could move to the West Midlands this summer, too, to give the rookie head coach more options all over the pitch, with a free transfer deal reportedly in the works.

West Brom line up free transfer for Blackburn star

West Brom love shopping in the bargain bin, with Josh Maja's arrival in the summer of 2023 on a free transfer basis going down as a big hit, with 19 goals next to his name in Baggies blue and white seeing him be handed a new deal this off-season.

They could look to replicate this Maja magic by snapping up Blackburn Rovers' Sondre Tronstad on a free transfer, with the Norwegian's contract set to be ripped up in June, after the one-time Premier League winners decided against renewing the number six's deal.

SportsBoom has reported West Brom's interest in the soon-to-be free agent, with Morrison and Co. noted as closely monitoring the 30-year-old's situation, alongside Charlton Athletic.

It's stated that Tronstad would be content to remain put in the Championship, as he believes he has plenty left in his tank, after three campaigns in the second tier in Lancashire even saw him be crowned Blackburn's Player of the Season at the close of the 2024/25 season.

Morrison would love to win such a no-nonsense midfield presence to make his team more gritty ahead of next campaign, after stumbling to one too many defeats last season, with the Baggies snapping up a modern-day Claudio Yacob, potentially, by landing the Scandinavian's signature.

Why Lonstrad could be Morrison's own Yacob

During West Brom's Premier League prime in the early 2010's, the Baggies were blessed with several attritional midfield talents, such as Youssouf Mulumbu, and even Morrison, before he took on management.

Arguably, Yacob is the cream of the crop in this regard, with the Argentine battler going on to make 160 top-flight appearances for the West Midlands giants, picking up a weighty 41 yellow cards along the way for his full-blooded approach.

Yacob would go on to score two goals for the Baggies, finding the back of the net against Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, but he would become far more well-known at West Brom for his combative displays centrally, than his creative flair, so much so that he was nicknamed the "silent assassin" by his former Hawthorns teammate Ben Foster.

He would go slightly under the radar when completing all his dirty work, with Tronstad also gaining a lot of joy operating as a disruptive, yet slightly underappreciated presence for Blackburn.

This season just gone in the Championship, as Blackburn fought for their lives near the foot of the division, the one-time Vitesse midfielder would win a lively five duels on average per league contest.

John Eustace even referred to the number six as an "unsung hero" for the cause, when he was still manager, such his workmanlike quality out of possession.

He was further showered with praise as being Blackburn's "best player" by journalist Elliott Jackson in December, with eyebrows raised at his impending release from Ewood Park.

Yacob would have these labels thrown his way, too, with Tronstad ready to be a modern-day version of the sprightly South American, if a free transfer deal can be arranged when his Blackburn contract is officially no more.

If all goes to plan, the 30-year-old could well guide Morrison's men back to the promised land of the Premier League, which is where Yacob shone over many years.