Aston Villa are plotting a new raid on West Brom.
The Birmingham Mail says Steve Hopcroft has resigned as Albion's head of academy recruitment and been placed on gardening leave at The Hawthorns.
Villa lured Mark Harrison away from Albion last summer and he's been tasked with reshaping the academy set-up at Bodymoor Heath.
Only recently Villa chief executive Christian Purslow praised Harrison's work after handing him to keys to the club's next generation.
“He has been the most brilliant hire," said Purslow. “He's setting about transforming the management structures of the academy. The under-23 team sits under the academy and you made an interesting observation about seeing 16 and 17-year-olds in the U23 team, now that is the acid test of the programme."