Pulis thought West Brom had signed a big “coup”, now he’s without a club

West Bromwich Albion last competed in the Premier League during the 2020/21 campaign but will be looking to return back to the promised land at the end of this current season under Carlos Corberan.

The early signs are that Corberan’s Baggies could even be in and around the automatic promotion spots come next May, providing they can keep up their blistering start which has seen them pick up four wins and one draw from their opening five Championship clashes to sit top of the early second-tier standings.

If they do make the jump back up to the top flight, the Spaniard in the Hawthorns dug-out will be wary about making statement signings for the sake of it, with West Brom caught out in their not-so-distant past by many a flop signing.

Tony Pulis fell victim to a lot of transfer duds during his spell in charge of the West Midlands outfit in the Premier League, with the old-school former West Brom boss even luring this ex-Paris St. Germain midfielder to the club back in 2017, only for this buy to be remembered now as a colossal waste of time.

Krychowiak’s time at West Brom

At the time of the midfielder’s arrival, Pulis labelled the loan signing of Grzegorz Krychowiak as a “coup”, which it arguably was, considering the Polish holding midfielder once had admirers in the form of Arsenal and Liverpool over the lowly Baggies.

However, it would quickly become known to those watching week in week out at the Hawthorns why neither the Gunners nor the Reds went out of their way to purchase him, with West Brom never getting the best out of their underwhelming loanee despite his PSG pedigree.

Krychowiak would go on to make 31 forgettable appearances for his short-term employers during his only season in the West Midlands, picking up three assists along the way before finding his mojo again playing out in Russia with Lokomotiv Moscow.

Pulis’ comments right after signing the Ligue 1 winning midfielder made it out as if he was going to leave a lasting impact on the Premier League during his short stay, but he entered and exited the English game in a flash, without ever really putting in a shift in that would be memorable to the Baggies masses.

Now, the well-travelled West Brom dud has played for numerous clubs since this uninspiring stint, with Krychowiak even playing out in Saudi Arabia at one point.

Krychowiak’s career since West Brom

An apt word to describe the 34-year-old’s career would be nomadic, as Krychowiak has played all over the world from his time in England to playing in Russia, Greece and even out in the Middle East.

The 6 foot 1 defensive midfielder unexpectedly found his shooting boots when playing in Moscow, helping himself to 23 goals and 15 assists across 109 games, as Krychowiak managed to reinvent himself after a poor spell under Pulis.

The ex-PSG man does, however, now find himself without a club after walking away from his last employers in Abha Club when his contract was up in July.

He had managed to find the back of the net nine times during his one season stay in Saudi Arabia, but like many of the top performers he played alongside during his short Baggies stints such as Gareth Barry and Ben Foster, he could soon be heading towards his retirement date as well.

Whilst faces from yesteryear such as Salomon Rondon and Ahmed Hegazy will be remembered fondly to those at West Brom, Krychowiak’s name won’t mean much to the Hawthorns faithful now, as an expectant Baggies fanbase hope this season is the time when they leap back up to the top-flight.