Cox completes move to West Brom

Cox shared League One's Golden Boot award with Rickie Lambert

Swindon Town striker Simon Cox has joined Championship side West Bromwich Albion for an initial fee of £1.5m.

That figure could rise to £1.9m, depending on how well the 22-year-old performs at The Hawthorns.

The two-year deal was arranged before Albion appointed Roberto Di Matteo as their manager but the former MK Dons boss was keen to complete the move.

Cox was League One's joint top scorer last season with 29 goals, which prompted Albion to make their move.

Cox netted 32 times in total for Swindon last term including three hat-tricks and ended their League One campaign with back-to-back braces, which went towards securing the club's status in the division.

606: DEBATE

Sounds like a bargain to me, excited to see this kid bang them in next season! Keep em coming RDM and get rid of some dead wood! Boing Boing

Dingleslapping

New baggies boss Roberto Di Matteo said: "Simon is an exciting, young talent with bags of ambition, hunger and determination.

"I think he will be a great asset for our team next season. He had a lot of interest from other clubs, including one or two Premier League clubs, and we are very happy that he has signed for us."

Cox started his career at his hometown club of Reading where he made his first-team debut in the League Cup against Luton in 2005.

After finding opportunities hard to come by he spent time on loan at Brentford and Northampton before settling at Swindon.

During his initial spell at the County Ground, where he struck eight goals in just 19 games, he made his move permanent in January 2008.

Robins chairman Andrew Fitton told BBC Wiltshire: "When he arrived, I said to him that I would try to help him become a better player and get the move he always wanted.

"He did a great job for us and we did a great job for him. It was great to have him here, I'm sure he'll be a County Ground legend for a long time to come.

"We would expect to get the whole £1.9m. It would have been nice to get a bit more, if a Premier League club had come in for him, it could have been more, but I think it represents fair value."

Fitton has also revealed that Swindon have already paid out transfer fees this summer, including for Hibernian winger Alan O'Brien.