Fletcher insists continuity will improve West Brom’s transfer business

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Fletcher was instated as Baggies captain following his transfer from Manchester United in February 2015.

West Bromwich Albion captain Darren Fletcher has told the Birmingham Mail that the Baggies will be able to attract better players in the transfer market as a result of manager Tony Pulis’s decision to put pen to paper on a new deal that will keep him at The Hawthorns until 2018.

Questions over Pulis’s long-term future with Albion have been rife for many months, with the former Stoke City manager’s previous contract set to expire following the conclusion of the current Premier League season.

However, the veteran 58-year-old has now put the speculation to bed by penning an extended contract with the club.

Fletcher, who was appointed as Baggies’ skipper following his transfer from Manchester United in February 2015, is delighted that the widely-respected manager has quashed speculation by extending his stay with the West Midlands club, and the Scottish international is adamant that Pulis’ recent show of commitment will reap dividends for Albion in future transfer windows.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, the 32-year-old midfielder said: “It’s important for the whole club. For us to know he’s here for another year is great.”

“We’d hate to go into the second half of the season not knowing what was happening with the manager’s contract or whose going to be manager for the start of the new season.

“Also for signing players in January. All these things. Players want to come to come a club where the manager that wants them and has signed them is going to be there for consistency and building on the great work he’s done.”

Fletcher has been instrumental for West Brom during their promising start to the 2016-17 season, and the vastly-experienced midfielder will have a key role to play over the coming months as Pulis’ side look to pull away from their customary relegation scrap by cementing their status as a mid-table Premier League.

The Baggies have shown that they can mix it with the league’s top sides by turning in commendable displays against both Spurs and Liverpool in recent weeks, and they will have to be at their best once again if they are to emerge from this weekend’s game with a result, as they welcome Pep Guardiola’s faltering Manchester City side to The Hawthorns.