West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Irvine admits speaking to Belgium pair Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku about new signing Sebastien Pocognoli.
Irvine worked with the duo at Everton.
"Sebastien is an experienced left-back who has played at a high level for many years," said Irvine.
"After being named in Belgium's provisional World Cup squad, he just missed out on Brazil, mainly because he hadn't played enough games towards the end of the season.
"But he's joined us with a real hunger to prove himself at Albion and get back into the international set-up.
"We've done our due diligence on Sebastien in terms of people who have worked with him, including Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas.
"You make your own mind up about a player's ability from watching him play but you put these calls in to find out about their personality. The feedback on Sebastien was very positive."
