West Bromwich Albion confirmed the signing of Okay Yokuslu on Monday, but the 28-year-old may not be fully fit at the start of the campaign. Okay was released by Celta Vigo over the summer after struggling for playing time last season, so he’s been largely inactive for 12 months.

And as he’s only just signed for a club, Okay has missed a number of West Brom friendlies that would have improved his match fitness. Steve Bruce admitted the Turkish international will be behind most players in terms of his conditioning but hopes he’ll catch up in the coming weeks.

Bruce said via Birmingham Live: “It’s an exciting signing for us because he played very well when he was here. We’re going to have to see where he is fitness-wise. Has he been playing?

“When you miss pre-season, I always think it’s very difficult to play catch up, but I believe he is a wonderful pro and a good athlete and will do everything he can to be right. It’s a really good signing for us.”

Okay made 19 La Liga appearances for Celta last season but amassed just 594 minutes of playing time from a possible 3420, so he wasn’t used for 83% of the campaign. The 28-year-old was then a free agent for a number of weeks, so he’s not had a full pre-season with a club, so Okay could be rusty.

The new Championship season begins on Friday, July 29 and West Brom’s opening game with Middlesbrough on Saturday, July 30, so it’s hard to see Okay being in a position to start in little over a week.

In other news, Steve Bruce saved a contract crisis with Dara O’Shea