Brandon Thomas-Asante has acknowledged that he should have scored more goals for West Brom last season and is determined to increase his tally in the upcoming season. The 25-year-old striker, who made his international debut for Ghana in June, has been West Brom’s top scorer for the past two seasons since joining from Salford City for £300,000 in August 2022.

In his two seasons at the club, Thomas-Asante has been the main striker for extended periods, largely due to injuries to teammates Daryl Dike and, more recently, Josh Maja. In his first season, he scored nine goals in all competitions, and last season he netted 12 goals, with 11 coming in the league.

Despite criticism at times for not scoring more, Thomas-Asante emphasized on the Albion website that he is aware of the need to improve his goal-scoring record. “I’m really grateful to have won the top goalscorer award last season, and it was really exciting to do so,” he said. “I’ve managed to do it twice in a row now, and I was able to better 2022/23’s tally in 2023/24, which I was pleased about. It’s always encouraging.

“I know there was criticism regarding not scoring more goals, and as a striker, you have to take that on the chin, but nobody knows I could have scored more than myself. Nobody sets higher standards for me than myself, and I’m always driving myself forward to improve in all aspects of my game. The target for this year will be to build on last season.”

Thomas-Asante wasted no time in starting strong this pre-season, scoring in under two minutes during Albion’s opener against Bolton Wanderers at St George’s Park on Saturday. The match featured new signings Ousmane Diakité, Torbjørn Heggem, and goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith.

Thomas-Asante described how the new players have integrated well into the team and mentioned his efforts to communicate with midfielder Diakité in French, as he has been trying to learn the language. “The boys are always really good when new lads join us. We’ve had Ousmane (Diakité), Torbjørn (Heggem), and Joe (Wildsmith) join the group so far, and they’ve all settled in.

“With Ousmane, even though there’s a language barrier there at the moment, his character shines through. I’m close with Torbjørn too, but he obviously speaks a lot more English at this stage than Ousmane. I love languages myself as well. I tried to learn Spanish last year, and I’ve given French a go too. Ousmane takes the mick out of me more when I try to speak French than I do him when he speaks English. They’re really good players as well, and I’m really excited to play with them. This week here at St. George’s Park will only help to strengthen relationships both on and off the pitch.”