West Brom signed an ‘insanely strong’ player who made England ace look like ‘a ragdoll’

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West Brom’s thrilling 3-2 win at Championship newcomers Wrexham was, in a sense, all about the barnstorming brilliance of Isaac Price.

After netting on the opening day, the former Everton youngster repeated the trick in North Wales and then went one better.

Isaac Price’s Racecourse Ground brace sees West Brom’s space-invading sensation top the Championship goalscoring charts with three in two matches, while also ensuring the Baggies are one of only three teams boasting a 100 per cent record so far.

No wonder Albion legend Tony Brown is a paid-up member of the Isaac Price fanclub.

There is, however, another relative West Brom newbie accumulating his fair share of admirers. While Price repaid his £2.5 million price-tag eight months after joining from Standard Liege, Aune Heggebo is already looking like good value too at a further £4.7 million.

At least, according to Football League oracle Ali Maxwell.

Ali Maxwell hails new West Brom centre-forward Aune Heggebo

The former SK Brann striker is yet to open his Championship account under Ryan Mason.

But after assisting Price’s winner against Blackburn Rovers, scoring in the Carabao Cup against Derby County, and causing Wrexham’s backline no end of problems in his most recent outing, Heggebo has wasted no time in showing that there is a lot more to his game than sticking the ball in the back of the opposition net.

Heggebo led the West Brom frontline with real power and finesse in Saturday’s five-goal thriller.

And while Price hogged the post-match headlines, the vital contributions of West Brom’s broad-shouldered Norwegian did not go unnoticed.

“I have been very moved by Aune Heggebo, who they call ‘Hulken’ and I think you can see why!” quips Maxwell, referencing the striker’s Marvel-themed moniker.

“He made Conor Coady look like a ragdoll in this game.”

Dominating former England international Coady on his home Wrexham debut, Heggebo is hardly diminutive at 6ft 1ins. But Maxwell was still struck by how the Bergen-born 24-year-old made full usage of his considerable upper-body strength.

“He’s not a ‘jumbo’ front-man, a six foot three inch beanpole,” Maxwell adds. “He shows that short dudes can be strong too.

“Insanely strong and can still be [among] the best targetmen in the league.”

Maxwell reflects on Isaac Price’s dazzling Wrexham display

If 6ft 1ins is ‘short’, then God help the rest of us.

Talking of using putting your physicality to good use, meanwhile, Isaac Price is three inches taller than his new Baggies teammate. At a sky-scraping 6ft 4ins, the prospect of Price adding an aerial threat to his game is a fearsome one indeed.

The flashing header which secured West Brom all three points at Wrexham was actually his first in senior football.

“Even before he scored, all I would notice was his movement between the lines,” Maxwell says of a midfielder who became the first Northern Ireland player in 17 years to score an international hat-trick against Bulgaria in 2024.

“You think, ‘how are you going to piece this Wrexham shape?’ And more often than not, it was Price making really good lateral movements, being found in the ‘ten’ spot and then going from there.

“That’s what stands out most for me alongside the fact he scored two goals.”

Heggebo is one of five new faces at West Brom this summer.

Hull missed out on Manchester United loanee Toby Collyer, after the Baggies added proven Championship experience in Nat Phillips and Krystian Bielik. Former Montreal Impact defender George Campbell has started the last two matches in league and cup, meanwhile, after crossing the Atlantic.