West Bromwich Albion have missed out on securing a deal for Manchester City striker and reported Baggies target Liam Delap.

What's the news?

In a Twitter post, The Athletic's David Ornstein revealed that Stoke City had agreed a deal to sign the player on loan for the remainder of the season.

He said: "Stoke City have reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign Liam Delap on loan. Deal until summer 2023, no buy option. Medical taking place today [Wednesday]. Huge interest in 19yo England youth international but SCFC have won race."

Indeed, the news was then confirmed by Stoke's official channels on Thursday lunchtime.

Baggies manager Steve Bruce recently spoke about his eagerness to sign the Englishman and had this to say on the matter.

"Who wouldn't be [interested]? We'll see. Me and everybody else too [are interested]. He's an outstanding talent. We've got huge competition.

"He's a young player that everybody up and down the country would love to have in their team."

This shows just how much of a hot prospect the player is and how much of an asset Bruce thinks he would be for his team at the top of the pitch.

A big blow for West Brom

With 68 appearances to his name for the Manchester club across their senior and youth teams, the 19-year-old has 48 goals and 16 assists under his belt, highlighting the clear potential he has in terms of being a regular goalscorer.

The Baggies have recently lost Daryl Dike to injury and failed to manage even one shot on target during their recent 0-0 draw against Cardiff City so there is clearly a need to bring in a new striker before the transfer window closes on September 1st. It also shows why missing out on Delap is such a big setback for the Baggies.

Having also missed out on securing a loan deal for Keinan Davis, who joined Watford after being linked with a move to the Hawthorns, this latest blow regarding Delap will leave another bitter taste in the mouths of everyone at West Brom.

With deadline day fast approaching, the Midlands club will have to move on from the City youngster and focus on other potential targets they could look to bring in before then.

If Albion end up not being able to bring a new forward in over the next couple of weeks, this would surely have a negative impact on the club's chances of securing promotion back to the Premier League, especially if they keep being as ineffective in front of goal as they were in midweek.

Thus, Delap would have been an outstanding acquisition with his goal record providing evidence of a player who will surely take to Championship football like a duck to water.