West Bromwich Albion received some welcome news on Sunday when defender Abdoulaye Meite signed for £2million.

The deal for the 27-year-old had earlier this week been described as “dead in the water” by manager Tony Mowbray but after his side’s final pre-season run out against Real Mallorca he intimated the transfer was on the brink of being resurrected.

He also admitted the transfer window has been a frustrating time and could not resist having a swipe at the “outsiders” who, he says, have made his life more complicated than it should have been this summer.

If it were possible for football agents to have gone down in Mowbray’s estimations, they have come close in the past couple of months.

He said: “In my experiences of this window, this league and the way the market place is at the moment I would hope we would get some more players in – but I can’t tell you if that will happen 100 per cent. It’s not easy.

“I think you have to have a belief in what you want to do and I won’t allow people outside the football industry to upset the apple cart.

“We are at the point where we can speak to a few players at the moment but the sad thing about football these days is that you don’t often get to speak to the players themselves, you have to go through their advisors and that’s where the problems lie.”

Having missed out on Madjid Bougherra, the former Charlton Athletic defender who signed for Rangers at a late stage of negotiations with the Baggies, securing Meite – or defensive cover – has become a top priority.

The Ivory Coast international has signed a three-year contract with a year’s option in the club’s favour and the fee could rise to £2.5?million depending on appearances.

Meite, who can also operate at full-back, started his career at French club Red Star 93 before joining Marseille in July 2001.

He became a first-term regular during his five years there and was a losing finalist in the Uefa Cup and French Cup in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

The 6ft 1in defender also played for Marseille in the Champions League before Sam Allardyce signed him in July 2006 and played him in all-but three of Bolton Wanderers’ Premier League fixtures when they finished seventh and qualified for the Uefa Cup.

He was also a regular for Wanderers last season until January, when the arrival of Gary Cahill from Aston Villa limited his first-team chances.

Meite was born in Paris but pledged his international allegiance to the Ivory Coast for whom he has played at the 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations the same year and in 2008.

It has been evident throughout Albion’s pre-season performances and their off-field frustrations that the Championship-winning side has not been strengthened as much as Mowbray would have liked.

That said, barring a couple of niggling injuries to Robert Koren and Luke Moore, the manager feels his players are as best prepared as possible for the daunting task of Arsenal, a game they will enter with more confidence following a decent display against a very good Real Mallorca side on Saturday.

Mowbray said: “We are as ready as we can be for the new season. We have worked very hard to bring players in over the summer.

“The players are fit enough and we will see what team we put out next week. In an ideal world I wouldn’t have Chris Brunt playing wide right but, at the moment, we are trying to improve the situation.”