Kareem Tunde joins Albion from Levante UD with plenty of promise and intrigue around the move.
A winger from Spain who has also featured in La Masia, the same academy to nurture great Barcelona attacking talents such as Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, you’d be forgiven for thinking this youngster will only come alive on the ball.
But Kareem has more than flicks and tricks to call upon as he leaves his homeland for the first time. He has been brought up on a landscape of industry and graft.
Here’s what the numbers say…
Born in Barcelona, Tunde started his career at RCD Espanyol before moving to Levante via Catalan giants Barça.
But the young winger had to wait for his first-team opportunity at Los Granotas until December 2025, when he came on for his debut against Real Sociedad during the final 15 minutes.
To set the scene for you, at this stage of the season, Levante looked doomed. Relegation back to the second tier seemed inevitable, and they were in need of a change of perspective after struggling to continue their expansive style in La Liga under Julián Calero.
Up stepped Portuguese Luís Castro to replace him and salvage a season, when the team he would come to manage had just nine points from 14 matches and were joint bottom of the La Liga table.
Castro had to revert them to basics, centering around a strict mid-block, which players would have to stick to almost religiously, but that wasn’t the only switch.
One of the further changes included giving Tunde his first-team bow, and as results started to trickle in for Los Granotas, it was clear to see why he did that.
The winger showed his defensive values and came away from the 2025/26 campaign with the most interceptions of any winger in the division (1.18 per 90 minutes played). The Levante No.19 also ranked within the top quarter of La Liga wide players for duels won (5.74 p/90) - winning 50 per cent of his total duels last term.
Castro’s idea was predominantly about keeping his side in this defensive structure where players would only jump out when the ball reached the middle third. But even still, there were moments where the 20-year-old managed to show his in-possession qualities.
Using his 5ft 10in frame, Tunde harnessed his natural low centre of gravity to complete just under 50 per cent of his total dribbles in the top flight, often cutting inside from the right wing using his left foot.
His solitary assist came in a crucial relegation ‘six-pointer’ against Real Oviedo, where he cleverly touched the ball down to lay back for Iker Losada to slam home during a 4-2 win.
Castro’s idea did work, with Kareem featuring across vital victories over RCD Mallorca, Celta de Vigo, Deportivo Alaves and Getafe en route to La Liga survival, meaning supporters at the Estadi Ciutat de València got to witness top-flight football for another season.
But still, after Tunde’s move to the Baggies, there’s hope he can use his industry on the right flank, along with the previews of dribbling ability we saw last year, to excite fans at The Hawthorns in 2026/27.
