West Brom notebook as two transfers are confirmed as Gareth McAuley lands his first management job
West Brom goalkeeper Brad Foster has been loaned to non-league Rushall Olympic for a month, the club have confirmed. Foster is to all intents and purposes the club’s fourth choice goalkeeper after Alex Palmer, Josh Griffiths and Ted Cann, who Carlos Corberan has confirmed will be the club’s third choice after David Button left the club for Reading.
Foster, 21, signed for Albion midway through last year having spent most of his academy development at Derby County. He featured prominently for the Baggies’ under 21s having signed last term and appeared in their Birmingham Senior Cup quarter-final tie with Redditch United.
Rushall play Hereford, Scunthorpe, Banbury, Gloucester, Peterborough Sports and Bishop’s Stortford in the coming weeks,
Midfielder Jamal Jimoh has confirmed his move to Aston Villa after the Lions and Albion agreed a £1m fee earlier this summer. Jimoh, 16, has become the latest player to be plucked from the Albion academy and make their way to Bodymoor Heath in recent years, joining a list of players which includes fellow midfielder Tim Iroegbunam.
The teenager has five caps for England under 17s since his first call up last summer, and he has been tracked by a number of top Premier League clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Albion had a pre-contract agreement in place with Jimoh for him to become a first-year scholar, but Villa have moved to take him across the West Midlands.
In doing so, they put together a more lucrative package which Tottenham weren’t willing to match, and central midfielder Jimoh is now with Villa ahead of the 2023-24 season, where he’ll begin a scholarship. It is understood that, with the alternative being a tribunal, an agreement has been struck between Villa and Albion which will be worth around £1m. Albion will also receive 10% of any fee if Villa were to sell Jimoh in the years to come.
“I’m delighted to finally announce my move to such a huge club. Let’s get the work started,” Jimoh said on social media.
Former Albion centre half Gareth McAuley has been named as Northern Ireland’s under 19 boss ahead of the country hosting the under 19 European Championships next year. McAuley had been working in the Northern Ireland youth set up prior to this role.
“Everyone knows I loved playing for Northern Ireland,” he told the Irish FA’s website. “It meant the world to me to pull on that jersey. “It’s no different now that I am on the coaching side of things. I will give it my all. This is my first job as a manager/head coach and, naturally, I want to succeed in the role.
“Hosting the U19 Euros will be fantastic for Northern Ireland. Football fans here will get to see some of the best young players in Europe in action, while our players will get the opportunity to play against them.”
McAuley arrived at Albion in 2011 on a free transfer from Ipswich Town as a 31-year-old with no previous Premier League experience, but he went on to become one of the biggest bargains in the club’s history, scoring 17 goals in 227 appearances – 203 of those in the top flight.
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