Comment: Owners Bilkul shrewd in biggest call of West Brom's transfer window

His deadline day transfer to Ipswich Town, eventually worth up to £5million with an initial fee higher than the £2m figure bandied in Suffolk, was a bolt from the blue. Ipswich only came calling on Sunday, barely 24 hours after Arijanet Muric's latest horrorshow against Southampton.

Most pressingly for Albion, it is a deal that works well for the club - and all parties.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper has the opportunity to play a major role in keeping the Tractor Boys in the Premier League, which is a long shot, but achievable with a fair wind.

Albion pocketed a decent fee for somebody who, while in his prime years, only had 18 months left on his contract.

There was a real opportunity Palmer, an academy product who served the club well showing extreme patience before clocking up more than 100 games, could have left for nothing. It could have been a repeat of Sam Johnstone in 2022. Not smart business.

The sale of an youth graduate, a player who cost the club nothing, goes into the accounts as straight profit. It will play a big part in boosting Albion's profit and sustainability figures in the financial fair play spreadsheets. 

The Baggies' decision-makers were approaching the juncture of a big goalkeeper call. This summer felt like the final point in the road it was plausible to keep Palmer and a satisfied Josh Griffiths waiting in the wings.

Griffiths has been flying out on loan at Bristol Rovers this season. He has been their best player by far and one of the best in League One. But the 23-year-old admitted earlier this season he had a serious decision to make about his future come the summer.

It has long been the view coming out of The Hawthorns that Griffiths, five years Palmer's junior, is an extremely bright prospect with a higher ceiling than Palmer.

Albion are very well-stocked in the department. Beneath Griffiths there is deputy Joe Wildsmith, Ted Cann and other youngsters such as Ronnie Hollingshead, New Zealand import Joe Wallis and the very highly regarded England youth international Ben Cisse.

None of this takes away the influence Kidderminster's own Palmer has had on Albion's senior set-up over the last two-and-a-half years or so.

Few in recent memory have shown such patience and commitment to breaking through to first-team reckoning.

Palmer, who joined the club aged 14, had seven separate loans at six different clubs before Steve Bruce handed him a long overdue shot between the sticks after one too many David Button errors.

The opportunity came aged 26 for the academy graduate, whose first appearance on an Albion first team bench came as an 18-year-old. He grasped it with both hands. To clock up 104 appearances, win a golden glove award in an overall clean sheet ratio of about 40 per cent is some going. He built a tight bond with supporters who generally regarded Palmer as the best since Ben Foster.

Palmer deserves his chance at Portman Road. He is not flawless but none in the Championship are, otherwise they would be playing for a top six Premier League club. His one-v-one and instinctive reaction saves are top-level quality. He is a fine shot-stopper and while distribution is not a big strength, it was not as poor as often made out.

But Albion have done well out of the deal and this is the opportunity Griffiths both wanted and needed to deliver on his potential.