West Bromwich Albion now look set to miss out on transfer target Joe Rothwell as talkSPORT correspondent Alex Crook revealed that the Blackburn ace is ‘on the brink’ of signing for Bournemouth.

The Lowdown: West Brom register interest

The 27-year-old first joined Rovers when he made the switch to the Championship from Oxford United, but failed to come to an agreement over a new deal at Ewood Park, meaning he will now become a free agent at the end of the month.

It was first reported by Alan Nixon that the Baggies had registered interest in the midfield maestro, alongside his teammate Darragh Lenihan, before the journalist provided a later update in May claiming that the Manchester-born talent was set to speak to all potential suitors ahead of deciding his next destination.

The Latest: Bournemouth set to sign Rothwell

In a new post on his personal Twitter account, however, Crook confirmed that it looks like Rothwell has chosen to join Bournemouth ahead of West Brom, after previously coming close to completing a move to the Cherries. He wrote:

“Six months after having a £2m bid rejected AFCB are on the brink of signing Blackburn midfielder Joe Rothwell as a free agent. Also working hard on other deals to strengthen the squad for Premier League return.”

The Verdict: Damaging for Bruce

With Scott Parker’s side now being able to offer Premier League football after recently gaining automatic promotion from the second-tier, it was almost an impossible battle for Steve Bruce to win as the opportunity of playing in the top-flight was too good of an offer for Rothwell.

Once dubbed a "super talent" by his former manager Tony Mowbray, the 27 year-old played 41 times in the Championship last season and provided ten assists, by far the most of any Blackburn player.

Bruce pulled off quite the coup in managing to bring former Reading starlet John Swift to the Hawthorns, but missing out on a Bosman deal for another player with such impressive creativity is certainly a damaging blow to his hopes of creating a promotion-worthy squad this summer.

In other news… West Brom have tabled an offer for one of Bruce’s main transfer targets.