Ryan Mason’s West Brom announcement at 11:30am must surely include ‘critical’ individual vs Wrexham

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West Brom will be the first team to travel to the Racecourse to face Wrexham in the Championship in 43 years.

The Baggies will be looking to make history in this fixture by becoming the first team to win a league game between the two clubs, with the only match coming in 1930 in the FA Cup.

Wrexham emerged as victors 95 years ago in that fixture and may be quietly confident due to their perfect record when John Busby is in charge of proceedings.

Ryan Mason will be looking to upset Wrexham fans and their celebrity owners, Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, when the second tier of English football makes a return to the city after 43 years.

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George Campbell in, to replace Torbjorn Heggem, who departed West Brom

It will come as no surprise to any West Brom fans that the Baggies accepted a £10 million offer from Bologna for Torbjorn Heggem.

While he was a fan favourite and they will be sad to see him leave, it is an incredible deal for the club, considering the amount that West Brom acquired him for just last summer.

However, his departure has left a huge hole in the centre of defence, and while this appears to be getting filled by Krystian Bielik, who is set to join from Birmingham, it would be a strange decision from Mason to throw him straight into the action without training with his new teammates.

This should see American international and summer signing George Campbell get his first start in the Championship for his new club.

Campbell started in their midweek defeat to Derby County in the Carabao Cup; however, West Brom opted not to start Nat Phillips beside him, resting the former Liverpool defender after he helped inspire them to victory over Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the campaign.

The American should get his chance beside Phillips at the heart of defence, with this being the perfect opportunity to raise his hand and convince Mason that he should be the long-term solution to Heggem’s departure and not Bielik.

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West Brom’s thoughts on George Campbell

Ryan Mason had been in charge of West Brom for a month when the club confirmed the deal to acquire George Campbell.

The American defender was being viewed as a versatile defender with incredible experience to join the squad, despite being only 24 years old.

Upon his signing, Sporting Director Andrew Nestor spoke to the club website about what he could bring to the Baggies.

He said: “We’re happy to welcome George to the club. At a relatively young age, George arrives with significant first-team experience.

“His progressive play, positional versatility and physicality adds to our defensive unit, further strengthening our options.

“He has been in season since February and can now join our pre-season at a critical time as we ramp up to our home opener.”