West Brom land Millwall winger Jed Wallace after Steve Bruce fights off fierce transfer competition from rival clubs
STEVE BRUCE has seen off fierce competition from rival Championship clubs to sign former Millwall right winger Jed Wallace.
The 28-year-old is regarded as one of the Championship’s best free signings this summer after allowing his Lions’ contract to run down.
And Bruce says he is delighted to welcome the former Wolves winger to the Hawthorns after Wallace scored 37 goals and conjured up 39 assists in 210 appearances for Millwall.
“Jed will be a massive asset to our team, and I’m absolutely delighted to get him through the door,” said the Baggies’ boss.
“He is somebody who I’ve admired for a long time and have tried to sign before.
“He’s got pace, power, penetration in the final third and, above all, is a top pro.
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“To have secured our two primary targets in Jed and John Swift is terrific, and to get these deals both done before the squad return for pre-season is testament to the hard work being done behind the scenes by Ron Gourlay and the recruitment team.”
Burnley, QPR, Luton and Watford are all understood to have expressed an interest in signing Wallace.
But Bruce managed to welcome him to the Albion family – thanks to some family ties.
Bruce’s son-in-law, Salford striker Matt Smith, is good friends with Wallace and may have played a part in convincing the winger to put his Wolves past to one side.
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Wallace joined Milwall permanently in 2017 after two loan spells with the Lions from Wolves.
The winger was capped once at England U20 level.