West Bromwich Albion have completed the signing of Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes on loan for the 2018-19 campaign. Barnes impressed during his loan spell with Barnsley during the first half of last season but was called back to the King Power Stadium in January by Claude Puel. In all fairness, he could eventually prove to be a shrewd signing by West Brom.
The Baggies were in a complete mess in the Premier League last season and managed to collect just 31 points. They finished bottom in the league standings and are thus due to play in Championship this time around.
Barnes will join Sam Johnstone, Kyle Bartley and Jonathan Bond who were signed earlier this summer.
Barnes – Fact file
Having emerged through the youth ranks of Leicester City, Barnes is unarguably one of the hottest and most promising young guns in English football. He spent the second part of the 2016-17 season with Milton Keynes Dons.
During his time with Barnsley last term, the 20-year-old thoroughly impressed as he scored 5 goals and mustered 4 assists in 23 league appearances.
After recalling him, Puel handed him his debut with a brief cameo against Southampton. He also made substitute appearances in the final two games of the season, which were against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Foxes rate him very highly and that is why he has been shipped out on a temporary basis. Barnes is tough to defend against owing to his raw pace and he often cuts inside to score goals as well as to create chances.
He is a good passer of the ball, has the hunger to make his presence felt on the pitch and prefers to knit the side together with his short passes. Barnes, on a regular basis, tests opposition’s goalkeeper with his shots from close quarters and long distances and is quite technical too. By no means is he a finished product as there are some areas he needs to work on.
The England Under-20 international has to improve his ability to hold the ball in the final third and must also try to track back to make more defensive contributions.
Further, his decision-making should also improve in the coming months. Nonetheless, he is still young and should be able to turn himself into a finished package under the right guidance.
With Albion, he is likely to get a notable amount of game time and he should be able to keep his developmental process in ascendancy.
Statistics Credits: Whoscored