Black Stars striker Brandon Thomas-Asante has admitted he should have netted more goals for West Brom last season and is striving to keep increasing his scoring tally.
The 25-year-old, who was handed his international debut for Ghana back in June, has been Albion’s leading goalscorer for the past two seasons, since arriving from Salford City for £300,000 in August 2022.
In his two seasons at the club, Thomas-Asante has been Albion’s main striker for long periods, largely down to injuries suffered by Daryl Dike and more recently Josh Maja.
His first campaign saw Thomas-Asante bag nine goals in all competitions, before finishing with 12 goals last season, 11 of those coming in the league.
At times the striker has been criticised for not adding to his goalscoring tally, and speaking to the Albion website the striker insisted he knows more than anyone that he should have netted more goals.
Asante said: “I’m really grateful to have won the top goalscorer award last season and it was really exciting to do so.
“I’ve managed to do it twice in-a-row now and I was able to better 2022/23’s tally in 2023/24, which I was pleased about. It’s always encouraging.
“I know there was criticism regarding not scoring more goals and as a striker you have to take that on the chin, but nobody knows I could have scored more, more than myself.
“Nobody sets higher standards for me than myself and I’m always driving myself forward to improve in all aspects of my game.
“The target for this year will be to build on last season.”
It took the striker less than two minutes to get a goal under his belt in Albion’s pre-season opener against Bolton Wanderers at St George’s Park on Saturday.
It was a that saw outings for new signings Ousmane Diakité and defender Torbjørn Heggem, who have arrived this summer alongside goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith.
Thomas-Asante explained how the trio have settled in well to life at Albion – and revealed he has been trying his French out on midfielder Diakite, after trying to learn the language.
He added: “The boys are always really good when new lads join us. We’ve had Ousmane (Diakité), Torbjørn (Heggem) and Joe (Wildsmith) join the group so far and they’ve all settled in.
“With Ousmane, even though there’s a language barrier there at the moment, his character shines through.
“I’m close with Torbjørn too, but he obviously speaks a lot more English at this stage than Ousmane.
“I love languages myself as well. I tried to learn Spanish last year and I’ve given French a go too. Ousmane takes the mick out of me more when I try to speak French than I do him when he speaks English.
“They’re really good players as well and I’m really excited to play with them. This week here at St. George’s Park will only help to strengthen relationships both on and off the pitch.”
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