West Bromwich Albion are set to rival fellow Championship outfit Hull City for the signing of Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter this summer, according to TEAMtalk.

What's the story?

The Baggies are reportedly keen to lure the 23-year-old to The Hawthorns, despite the Blues 'keeper spending the season on loan at Hull, who are interested in keeping the Englishman on.

Baxter, who joined Chelsea as an eight-year-old, has endured numerous loan spells as the shot-stopper has worked his way up the English football pyramid.

The Englishman currently finds himself in the Championship and is approaching the end to what has proven to be a mixed loan spell in East Yorkshire.

With Matt Ingram the Tigers' first choice in between the sticks, opportunities have been hard to come by at the MKM Stadium for Baxter.

The Chelsea loanee was called upon for almost three months between November and January, with the 'keeper making 12 appearances in the Championship and impressively kept six clean sheets during that spell.

However, just one appearance has followed that run with a 2-1 defeat at Millwall last time out.

With Baggies number one Sam Johnstone set to depart the West Midlands club this summer, West Brom will undoubtedly need to add a goalkeeper to their ranks and Baxter could certainly be a decent option.

West Brom can replace Johnstone with Baxter

Labelled a "top professional" by former Aston Villa teammate Micah Richards, Johnstone will certainly leave a major gap to fill with the goalkeeper set to depart as a free agent this summer, having kept 15 clean sheets in 36 Championship appearances this term.

Granted, having not been the first-choice at Hull the likeliness of Baxter taking the number one shirt immediately at West Brom is unlikely, with the experienced David Button still at the club, although his contract is also set to expire this summer.

However, at just 23 the £270k-rated Chelsea youth product already has an abundance of first-team experience with 148 senior appearances to date across a variety of clubs.

Whilst on loan at National League side Woking during the 2017/18 season, the 23-year-old was praised by then-manager Anthony Limbrick for a strong performance against Eastleigh, which saw the goalkeeper save a penalty.

"Nathan made a great penalty save, he's a good shot-stopper, and he also made a good save in the first half to keep us in it," said Limbrick.

"Even though he's a young keeper he's still learning. He was really good and you fancy him to save penalties, as he's really agile."

Having proven he can make the grade in the second-tier, Baxter could certainly prove to be a shrewd addition to West Brom's squad and, whilst still being young, could potentially work his way up to become the Baggies' number one for years to come.

AND in other news: WBA now eye swoop for 19 y/o "huge talent" who's like "Maradona", Bruce will love him