ALBION’s newest recruit Oliver Burke has had quite the journey on his way to becoming part of Tony Pulis’ squad.
Born in Scotland, the powerful winger moved south of the border as a child and joined local Leicestershire club Mowbray Rangers at eight years of age.
His obvious talent was soon noticed by Nottingham Forest who signed him and nurtured him through their academy until he agreed his first professional contract in 2014.
Burke's first appearance came in Forest's League Cup defeat at the start of the 2014/15 season, but he had to wait until the February of that campaign to make his league debut. He made his bow in a 4-4 draw against Blackpool before going out on loan to Bradford the following month.
The Scotsman's real breakthrough came during the 2015/16 season when he made over 20 appearances for Forest, scoring two goals in the process. He also won his first of five caps for his country in the win over Denmark.
He followed this up with a fantastic pre-season ahead of the 2016/17 campaign, and went on to score four goals in the seven competitive games throughout August.
This scintillating form caught the attention of a variety of top Premier League and European clubs and earned Burke a move to German side Red Bull Leipzig.
After getting an assist on his debut, he grabbed his first goal in his third game for Leipzig and in doing so became the first Scottish player to score in the Bundesliga this century.
Scotland's most expensive player went on to make a total of 26 appearances for Leipzig, including turning out in a 5-0 German Cup win earlier this month, before deciding to make the switch to the Premier League.