Tammer Bany 'different to what West Brom have got' as he closes in on debut
West Brom winter signing Tammer Bany has yet to make his debut - but Tony Mowbray could be about to involve him for the first time
Little-known West Bromwich Albion playmaker Tammer Bany could be in line for his first matchday involvement when the Baggies welcome Oxford United to The Hawthorns this Saturday (3pm kick off), boss Tony Mowbray has teased.
Bany, 21, was lured from Danish side Randers for a fee believed to be in the region of £3.3m, but was conducting his pre-season in Madrid when Albion came calling and time has been set aside to allow him to get up to speed with his new surroundings and increase his personal fitness levels in a new environment, while learning all about his new teammates.
Bany, who arrived late on transfer deadline day earlier this month, could prove to be something of a wildcard signing with opposing defences unlikely to know all too much about his profile and Albion are optimistic that he can make an impact in the first-team in due course - a confidence supported by the substantial transfer fee they parted with to sign him.
Albion host Gary Rowett's U's on Saturday, the seventh match of Mowbray's reign, and Bany - who has caught the eye of his manager in training this week, could be afforded a place in the matchday squad - and perhaps even a cameo run-out if the match situation permits.
"Young Tammer has looked decent in training," Mowbray said. "He's getting his fitness up, he was in pre-season when we signed him in the window. He has the potential to be around the squad and he could get some minutes, but he won't be in consideration to start the game. We might put him on the bench and see if we can get some minutes for him, depending on the how game goes.
"He didn't feel as though he was ready to give his best for the team so he needed to do some training and we've ramped it up this week for him. It'll be a few more weeks of bringing it together - we can't consider he'll be able to play 90 minutes but there might be an opportunity to give him 15 minutes if we need to.
"He's been good, he's different to what we've got. He's full of energy, very committed. He can dribble with the ball, he likes the ball, he wants it off everybody and he plays one twos and links pretty well. He's buzzing around, but generally it's in the small-sided games - let's see what he looks like on the bigger pitch if he gets the opportunity to get on the pitch."
Albion will still be without Kyle Bartley, who serves the final game of his three-match suspension, while Jed Wallace has been ruled out for the foreseeable future with a calf injury. Josh Maja is the other player currently unavailable to Mowbray.