West Bromwich Albion could well have a new potent goalscoring hero in the form of Josh Maja, who has started this Championship season like a man possessed.
Only fit to make 12 appearances for Carlos Corberan‘s Baggies in the league last season, with just a paltry goal to show for his efforts, the former Sunderland youngster has now managed to register four goals from four league games to help his side sit pretty in second spot.
As much as West Brom are now showing the benefits of exercising patience with Maja, they didn’t quite have the same levels of perseverance with this former attacker when he was starting out as a raw youngster, who has since gone on to become a goalscoring menace away from the Hawthorns.
Chris Wood’s time at West Brom
Chris Wood, who is now a household name to Premier League fans with Nottingham Forest among the many other top-flight clubs he’s lined up for, might now be forgotten about as ever being a ex-West Brom player, having only gone on to make 27 appearances for the West Midlands side.
The 74-time New Zealand international wasn’t exactly a hit for the Baggies either, only managing to find the back of the net three times during his short stay with the club.
But, with a promising six assists also managed across these games, West Brom would cash in on their unpolished gem in 2012 when Leicester City bid £1.25m for the centre-forward’s services.
Wood had shone on loan at the King Power Stadium before making that move to the Foxes permanent, and would become known as a serious threat in front of goal for many other clubs past Leicester, with the 32-year-old still excelling at Forest today even as his career begins to naturally wind down.
Wood’s career since West Brom
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Wood since departing the Baggies as a young striker still keen to make a name for himself, however, with failed moves to the likes of Newcastle United sticking out from his career resume, as the Magpies won his coveted services for £25m in 2022.
He would only go on to score a weak five goals from 39 appearances at St James’ Park, as the pressure of his bumper price tag proved too weighty, before going on to rebuild his somewhat tainted career at the City Ground.
Wood’s goalscoring record at Forest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Season | Games played | Goals scored | Assists |
24/25 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
23/24 | 35 | 15 | 1 |
22/23 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Wood has found his goalscoring powers again since relocating to Forest, with an impressive 15 goals registered last campaign helping his relegation-threatened side stave off the drop, whilst two goals have already come his way during the infancy of the new season.
It’s not as if Newcastle gambled and splurged that £25m back in 2022 for the sake of it either, with a combined 97 strikes finding the back of the net from the towering 6 foot 3 goal machine when he lined up for both Burnley and Leeds United, before his flop move to Tyneside came to fruition.
West Brom must really regret, with hindsight now on their side, not giving the Auckland-born striker more opportunities in the Baggies’ first team, with Wood only given one chance in the Premier League to impress during the 2010/11 campaign when he was still on the roster at the club.
In the here and now, the 32-year-old would also really suit the system Corberan likes his team to play under, as the likes of Tom Fellows and Mikey Johnston would have a field day twisting and turning their markers down the flanks, before attempting to find the imposing figure of Wood ready to pounce.
The on-fire Forest number 11 will just aim to continue seeing out his playing days in style, as the Championship promotion hopefuls curse their bad luck over discarding Wood too soon.
