Albion announced the signing of Adam Armstrong on loan from Southampton until the end of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship campaign on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old striker, who has already worked with Tony Mowbray twice in his career, arrives with a wealth of experience at second-tier level and an exceptional goalscoring record.
Here are ten things you may find interesting about the new man.
The striker was born on February 10 1997 in Newcastle upon Tyne. As a boy, Adam grew up supporting Newcastle United and joined the club’s academy aged nine. He made his senior debut for the Magpies in a Premier League clash at Fulham in March 2014, coming on for the final four minutes of their 1-0 defeat.
Armstrong’s first senior goals came in a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on his Coventry City debut in League One. The Sky Blues were then managed by Baggies boss Tony Mowbray. The forward was just 16 at the time, and he went on to score five goals in his first three games for Coventry City.
His maiden career hat-trick also came while playing for Mowbray at Coventry, bagging a treble in a thumping 5-0 win at Crewe Alexandra on Jan 2 2016. All three strikes came before the break.
Adam is a FIFA World Cup winner. The striker played his part for England’s U20 side who defeated Venezuela 1-0 in the final in June 2017. He made four appearances in that particular tournament which was held in South Korea, scoring once in a 3-0 triumph over Argentina in Jeonju.
Tony Mowbray became Blackburn Rovers boss in February 2017 and signed Armstrong on loan from Newcastle in January 2018. He scored nine goals in 21 League One appearances between January and May as Rovers won promotion to the Championship.
Adam made a permanent move to Ewood Park in the summer of 2018 and scored nine goals in all competitions in his first full year. In total, Albion’s new loan signing scored 64 times for Rovers between January 2018 and August 2021.
January 2019 was a special month for both Mowbray and Armstrong. Mowbray won the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award and Armstrong won the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award. Blackburn won four out of four in the league, with Adam featuring in all of them, scoring in two.
The 27-year-old scored on his debut for Southampton in a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park against Everton in August 2021. It was his first Premier League goal. Armstrong’s second top-flight strike proved to be the winner as the Saints defeated Aston Villa 1-0 at St Mary’s Stadium in early November that year.
Adam enjoyed an incredible 2023/24 season. He scored 24 goals in 52 appearances in league and cup, bagging four braces. He scored twice in the play-off semi-final second leg at St Mary’s as Southampton beat the Baggies, before going on to notch the winner in the final at Wembley against Leeds United.
Armstrong arrives at The Hawthorns boasting a record of 125 senior goals scored. He has also notched 80 times in the Sky Bet Championship in 235 appearances in the competition, including play-off matches. The striker also has 33 second-tier assists to his name.
