Soccer-West Brom's Pulis hopes clever transfer plans can provide edge

West Bromwich Albion have already put transfer plans in place for next season and hope an early start to their business will give them an edge over wealthier rivals, the Premier League club's manager Tony Pulis said on Friday.

West Brom have been linked with several players, including Sporting's Portugal anchorman William Carvalho, Udinese's Czech midfielder Jakub Jankto and Gent's Nigeria winger Moses Simon.

"We're planning already for next year; we are trying to put things in place. We don't want to be behind the ball," Pulis told reporters. "We want to get players in or target players as early as we possibly can...

"It is difficult getting them in the door early because we have to negotiate deals and prices... but we will do our best.

"The most important thing is to target the ones that we want, go out and be very clever in what and how we do it because we haven't got the finances that other clubs have got but we need the players in and that's the bottom line."

West Brom, who are eighth, host third-placed Liverpool on Sunday and Pulis hopes to continue his record of having never lost as a Premier League manager against the Merseyside club in spells at Stoke City, Crystal Palace and with the Baggies.

"I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up," the Welshman said. "But let's hope that record continues this weekend as well."

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)