Exclusive: West Brom plot move to sign Hull City midfielder

West Brom are plotting a move to sign Hull City midfielder Leonardo da Silva Lopes, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.

The Tigers face a battle to keep hold of their highly rated 21-year-old just 12 months after he arrived at the KCOM Stadium.

A source at The Hawthorns has told Football Insider that Slaven Bilic is ready to offer the centre-midfielder Premier League football next season.

He made 40 appearances in the Championship last season but his two goals and three assists were not enough save Grant McCann’s side from relegation.

Lopes still has two years left on his current contract at Hull after he penned a three-year deal upon his arrival from Wigan one year ago.

The Lisbon-born midfielder has represented Portugal at Under-20 level and a move to the Premier League would certainly give him a better chance of earning a senior cap.

Bilic is looking to build a squad capable of surviving in the English top-flight next season after the Baggies secured automatic promotion from the Championship last month.

The 51-year-old has already raided Hull this year after Kamil Grosicki swapped Yorkshire for the West Midlands in January – a transfer that has been part credited for the Tiger’s relegation.

The Baggies are in need of midfield reinforcements after the departures of veteran midfielders Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt.

Both were out of contract at the end of the 2019/20 season, with Brunt ending his 13-year association with the club.

Football Insider revealed last week that Brazilian attacker Matheus Pereira is close to becoming the newly-promoted side’s first signing of the summer after a four-year deal was agreed.

In other West Brom news, Michael Brown has told Football Insider that the Baggies missed out on their January targets and will have to sign well to stay in the PL next year.