West Brom Sign Fletcher From Man United

West Brom have signed midfielder Darren Fletcher from Manchester United.

The Scotland international has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the option of a further 12 months after being granted a free transfer.

There was some doubt whether the Baggies had completed the deal before the deadline, with Fletcher arriving back at their training base from a medical after the 11pm cut-off, but the club later confirmed a deal for the midfielder had been completed in time.

Fletcher was seen leaving United's Carrington training ground late on transfer deadline day and filmed arriving at West Brom soon afterwards to finalise the transfer.

The 31-year-old had been set to join West Ham United last week, but the deal broke down after the Hammers tried to land him on loan, with Louis van Gaal stating publicly that was "not the agreement".

Fletcher is a product of United's academy and leaves Old Trafford after more than 300 appearances for the club and 24 goals from midfield.

Fletcher later told West Brom's website: "It feels great. This is a fantastic new challenge for me in my career. I've spent my career at Manchester United and it's all I've ever known.

"But I felt it was the right time to move and I'm not sentimental about doing that - I have great memories obviously, but I'm now a West Bromwich Albion player and I cannot wait to get going.

"Everyone involved in making the deal happen has been fantastic. And a big reason I'm here is because of the head coach.

"He has impressed me from the first minute. When someone shows how much they want you it's a great feeling."

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace was happy overall with the business his club did on deadline day.

"We did not get all the business done that we might have, but we are thrilled to bring in a player and a character of Darren's calibre," Peace said.

"His reputation in the game goes before him. We have recruited a leader on the pitch and off it and a fantastic footballer who is used to setting and following the highest standards - he will be a major addition to our squad.

"We were disappointed for Carlton [Cole] because he was also excited about joining us, but for reasons which were beyond our control we could not complete the deal. The same can be said for the proposal involving Martin Olsson and Graham [Dorrans].

"But we have always maintained that January is a difficult time to do business and we are very happy with the deals we have done in bringing Callum [McManaman] and Darren to the club."