West Bromwich Albion: Tony Pulis not looking to leave Premier League side despite transfer frustrations
Reports emerged on Thursday night suggesting Pulis could be set to leave The Hawthorns just 24 hours after a transfer window
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Pulis is not considering his position as West Brom head coach.
Reports emerged on Thursday night suggesting Pulis could be set to leave The Hawthorns just 24 hours after a transfer window which left Albion supporters underwhelmed and frustrated.
However, contrary to those stories, the 58-year-old Welshman is not looking to end his stay with the Baggies.
Speculation about a reported rift behind the scenes followed a statement issued by the new chairman John Williams, who sought to explain the club's transfer dealings.
Despite a club-record deal for a defensive midfielder being in place - understood to be Malaga's Ignacio Camacho - the only new players to arrive ahead of the 11pm Wednesday deadline were defender Allan Nyom and striker Hal Robson-Kanu.
Williams revealed the club decided to end their pursuit of the midfielder they had been in talks over because of "footballing reasons" and that West Brom had then turned their attentions to a different target, which also proved unsuccessful.
Albion met Pulis' target of signing five players before the window closed, with Matty Phillips, Nacer Chadli - in a club-record deal - and Brendan Galloway the other new faces, and Williams said it was not for the want of trying that more did not arrive.
He said in a statement: "Our head coach Tony Pulis is very selective and particular about the players he recruits so it follows that the new team members will add significantly to his first-team options. Tony wanted five and we got five.
"That having been said, the one disappointment we suffered was not being able to add a further quality midfield player.
"We were a long way down the road with a deal, which for the second time in the window would have broken the club transfer record, thanks to the ongoing support of (majority shareholder) Jeremy Peace and (prospective new owner) Guochuan Lai.
"But it was decided for footballing reasons not to pursue this. Despite it being late in the window, we decided to pursue another high-quality target. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the deal over the line."
Former Stoke and Crystal Palace boss Pulis took charge of West Brom in January 2015 and kept the club in Premier League before steering Albion to a 14th-place finish last season in his first full campaign at the helm.
The club's other business during the summer transfer window saw Rickie Lambert and Cristian Gamboa join Cardiff and Celtic respectively while Sebastien Pocognoli linked up with Brighton on loan.
PA.
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