West Bromwich Albion had a fantastic summer window, and the benefits of their effort are already paying off, as James Morrison hopes to take the Baggies to a top eight finish this season.

It was a significant summer for West Brom, who, after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Championship last season, took the risk of hiring Morrison on a permanent basis, allowing the Scot to rebuild the squad in his first job as a head coach.

Daryl Dyke, Josh Maja, Jed Wallace, Karlan Grant, Krystian Bielik, and Alex Mowatt all left the Hawthorns, while Jimmy-Jay Morgan, Barney Stewart, Kareem Tunde, Felis Horn Myhre, Toby Collyer, and Rabby Nzingoula took their place.

Among their new signings was French right-back Nolan Galves, who the Baggies fought off intense interest from various Championship rivals to clinch his transfer.

Nolan Galves signed West Bromwich Albion in the summer, despite interest from multiple other Championship clubs.

Galves, 23, rose through the ranks at Sochaux, the same club that produced Maxence Lacroix, Marcus Thuram, and Ibrahima Konaté, before joining Ligue 2 side Rodez in 2024.

Nolan Galves Rodez’s career statistics (all competitions)

Appearances

68

Goals

2

Assists

11

Yellow cards.

7

Galves shone at right-back for Rodez, scoring five goals in 31 league appearances in his debut year and adding seven assists in 32 Ligue 2 outings in his second season.

Naturally, his remarkable achievements drew the attention of several clubs throughout Europe, including some in the English Championship.

Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, and Southampton were interested in Nolan Galves before completing the West Bromwich Albion transfer.

Galves’ performance and low price piqued the interest of several second-tier English clubs, with Millwall being the first to apparently make a bid for the full-back, having previously bought Tairyk Arconte and Derek Mazou-Sacko from the French club in recent windows.

However, the Lions were unable to conclude a deal because Queens Park Rangers apparently monitored the situation before deciding to sign Tariq Lamptey on a free transfer instead.

Finally, as West Brom closed in on Galves, Southampton reportedly had a bid accepted for the full-back, but with James Bree competing at St Mary’s, the 23-year-old chose to move to the Hawthorns instead.

West Bromwich Albion’s Nolan Galves is poised to miss the rest of the season due to a severe injury.

When Galves arrived in the Black Country, he was quickly thrown into action, playing the full 90 minutes in each of the Baggies’ first six games in all competitions, winning four, drawing one, and losing one.

He started the game away to Derby County on the bench, but came on in the 37th minute after Brayann Peireira received a second yellow card on debut; his game would not continue long.

Galves suffered an injury after a powerful challenge from Mohammed Fuseini after only 15 minutes, and it has since been reported that the full-back will miss the remainder of the 2026/27 season after undergoing knee surgery.

It’s a major loss for West Brom, who will be without the Frenchman for the remainder of the season after beating Championship rivals to his signing.

While the Baggies will be frustrated by this turn of events, a few clubs will be relieved to have escaped this situation so quickly.

Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, and Southampton must be glad after missing out on Nolan Galves in the recent news.

Millwall, QPR, and Southampton all attempted to persuade Galves to the Championship before West Brom secured a deal for the Frenchman, and after learning of his season-ending injury, they must have been relieved.

Of course, if he had joined one of the other three clubs, there is no guaranty he would have sustained the same injury; however, Millwall, QPR, and Southampton will be relieved that they have not suffered the same fate as West Brom.