West Brom make contact to sign Oscar Fraulo from Borussia Monchenglad

West Brom have made contact to sign Borussia Monchengladbach central midfielder Oscar Fraulo on loan, according to Dominik Schneider.

Writing on his personal Twitter account (10 August), the Football Transfer Germany journalist reports that the 19-year-old will leave the Bundesliga club this summer in search of more regular football.

And the Baggies have made their interest known along with several other clubs, with no final decision made yet on where he will end up according to the Football Transfers website.

“According to FT information, Bundesliga promoted SV Darmstadt and second division Hannover 96 have made contact [for Oscar Fraulo],” they wrote.

“The English second division club West Bromwich Albion, Eredivisie representative Vitesse Arnhem and Brondby IF from Fraulos’ Danish homeland have also requested.

“Where it ultimately goes is still open. But one thing is clear: After 17 regional league appearances and only two short appearances in the Bundesliga, Fraulo wants to take the next step elsewhere and then return to the Lower Rhine strengthened.”

If there is one area of the pitch where we are absolutely desperate for additions it is the middle of the park, and Fraulo provides that if nothing else.

Currently we have Okay Yokuslu, Jayson Molumby, Nathaniel Chalobah and Taylor Gardner-Hickman capable of playing the position, but the futures of the latter two are currently up in the air due to our current financial situation.

Corberan has already made it abundantly clear that he needs new signings after suffering defeat in the first two games of the season, and Fraulo would give him something he craves.

He is comfortable on the ball, not afraid of a tackle and importantly he is hungry to prove that he is good enough and some of that fight and determination will do well at The Hawthorns.

There is plenty of competition for his signature so it’s probably not best to get your hopes up too high on this, but it’s certainly one to keep an eye on as the window enters the final two weeks.

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The Royals have been the subject of EFL transfer embargos twice already this season, but with the most recent one ending last week, they have moved quickly to secure the signature of Button.

The 34-year-old made just 33 appearances across his three seasons at West Brom, but is set to compete with Dean Bouzanis and Jokull Andresson for the no 1 jersey at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Button is expected to be available for selection for Saturday’s League One fixture against Port Vale.

Button has predominantly been a second or third-choice goalkeeper throughout the latter years of his senior career.

After graduating from the Tottenham Hotspur academy, he enjoyed loan spells at the likes of AFC Bournemouth, Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley.

He signed permanently for Charlton Atheltic in 2012 but enjoyed the most successful period of his career in terms of playing time at Brentford between 2013 and 2016.

He won promotion to the Championship with the Bees in the 2013-14 season before signing for west London rivals Fulham in 2016.

After starting the 2016-17 season as first-choice goalkeeper, he eventually lost his place to Marcus Betinelli and has continued to be predominantly used as a back-up at subsequent clubs Brighton and Hove Albion and West Brom.

Button signed for Albion upon their most recent promotion to the Premier League in 2020 but has only featured sporadically since.

 

A regular in the cup competitions, he did earn some playing time in the Championship when Sam Johnstone decided to leave the Hawthorns on a free transfer in 2022, but FLW’s West Brom fan pundit Matt Smith believes Button was never quite up to the job and overstayed his welcome in the West Midlands.

He said: ”It is definitely the right move to offload David Button, he has been the worst goalkeeper I have ever seen at Albion.

“We’ve had some pretty decent goalies since I’ve been going, however Button was absolutely atrocious over a significant period of time too. How on earth did we spend £1m on him?

“How Steve Bruce gave him a two-year contract at the end of the 2021/22 season is beyond me. He’s so bad honestly. He can’t catch a bloody cold. He’s awful. I said we should have got Ben Foster back.

“I’m delighted we’ve got rid of him. I can’t believe there’s another club stupid enough to take him on to be honest with you.”

With Button departing, West Brom have been left with Alex Palmer and Josh Griffiths as their senior goalkeeping options.

Palmer started the 2-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on the opening weekend of the Championship season and is set to be entrusted between the sticks by Carlos Corberan.

21-year-old Griffths scored an unfortunate own goal as a much-changed Albion side lost 2-1 at Stoke City in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.