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Gareth Barry joins West Bromwich Albion from Everton

West Bromwich Albion have signed former England midfielder Gareth Barry from Everton on an initial one-year deal.

Albion head coach Tony Pulis has been looking for a replacement for Darren Fletcher in central midfield after he left for Stoke this summer and has now brought in Barry for an undisclosed fee.

Everton boss Ronald Koeman was open to keeping the 36-year-old but the club's summer spending has made competition for places fierce at Goodison Park and the anticipated arrival of Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea meant he would have fallen further down the pecking order.

Barry, 36, becomes the fourth new signing at West Brom this summer after the acquisitions of Jay Rodriguez, Zhang Yuning and Ahmed Hegazi.

Former Aston Villa trainee Barry, who has also played for Manchester City, has made 628 Premier League appearances and needs to play just five more matches to overtake former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs as the competition's all-time record appearance holder.

"I want to come and help the team. That's always been the same for me wherever I have played," Barry said on West Brom's official website. "I want to help the team improve, work hard and hopefully add quality."

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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