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Clarke already scouting for summer replacements at West Brom

West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Clarke is anticipating departures from the club this summer by already looking abroad for replacements. Winger Jerome Thomas and striker Marc-Antoine Fortune are out of contract in June while frontman Roman Lukaku's season long loan will expire.

But in addition Albion could face further offers for the likes of striker Peter Odemwingie and defender Jonas Olsson after rejecting bids from QPR last month.

Clarke said: "The club always tend to have a number of players who are on short-term or loan contracts. At the end of the season there is a possibility there will be three, four, five or six changes.

"We've had a really good season and maybe some other, bigger clubs will show an interest in some of the players we've got.

"I would like to be able to take the same stance (not for sale) but the summer window is slightly different to the January window.

"It's a little bit longer, there's a little bit more time for us to have targets to go for and for other clubs to come in and try to take some of ours.

"Our job is to make sure that we have a number of targets ready to come in as and when we need to chase those targets."

Clarke has used the 12-day break from action since the win at Liverpool to eye up potential targets.

He said: "I went to another European country and watched a couple of matches.

"I went to watch a couple of games to broaden my knowledge of the players that are available and are possible targets for next season.

"Myself and my coaching staff have been out across Europe over the last three or four weeks looking at potential targets for next season.

"I'm not going to give too much away but we saw some good games and a lot of good players. The club is well-organised, the scouting department is good.

"It's good for me that I can follow up recommendations from a really good scouting department that have proved over the years they can find really good players."

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