West Bromwich Albion head back into Championship football after the international break eager to pick up more wins at the Hawthorns after three successive goalless draws on their own patch.
Norwich City won’t be complete walkovers, as the two ex-Premier League clubs do battle before the fixtures then come thick and fast for Carlos Corberan‘s men to close out November.
Looking at how well the summer signings have fit in the West Midlands to date, it has been a mixed bag, with Torbjørn Heggem arguably the best buy of the transfer window from West Brom’s perspective considering the Norwegian defender has been everpresent at the back for his new side in the league.
There have been no catastrophic failures as of yet, thankfully, with West Brom very much prone to falling victim to a blunder in the transfer department.
Notable West Brom flops
The Baggies have sometimes gambled on talents to come good at the Hawthorns who then never spark into life, with Oliver Burke a definite one in the flop category.
Costing a lavish £15m fee to get in through the door, Burke would only go on to make 24 appearances for the club before being moved on to Sheffield United, having tallied up an underwhelming output of only three goals and one assist.
There have also been high-profile signings during West Brom’s hay-day in the Premier League that barely left an impression on proceedings, in the form of Diego Lugano and Nicolas Anelka.
Lugano arrived as a Copa America winner tasked with shoring up his new side at the back, whilst Anelka had a long list of former clubs under his belt when West Brom became his new home in 2013.
Between them, only 24 appearances came when donning a Baggies strip, as neither lived up to their grand billing.
West Brom also thought they had made a statement purchase with an exciting winger in 2016, having splashed out a significant £13m fee to win the player in question’s services from Tottenham Hotspur.
Chadli’s time at West Brom
Unlike those named above, Nacer Chadli would strut his stuff on occasion for his new employers after leaving North London behind.
The Belgian was a record buy after all, so there were a lot of eyes on him to set the world alight, with the start of his Baggies career seeing him come out of the blocks all guns blazing.
Chadli’s first five PL games at West Brom | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Opponent | Result | Goals scored | Assists |
1. AFC Bournemouth | 1-0 L | 0 | 0 |
2. West Ham United | 4-2 W | 2 | 2 |
3. Stoke City | 1-1 D | 0 | 0 |
4. Sunderland | 1-1 D | 1 | 0 |
5. Tottenham | 1-1 D | 1 | 0 |
Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Chadli helped himself to four goals and two assists from his opening five Premier League games, backing up assertions by his manager at the time, Tony Pulis that, he was a “top player.”
“He’s a top, top player and I’m delighted we’ve got him. I said last week that these signings all had to be about players who would improve our squad – and Nacer does precisely that.”
However, the goals and assists would somewhat dry up after this, with only four more goal contributions coming the ex-Spurs winger’s way across the rest of the 2016/17 campaign.
The 2017/18 season would also see him up and leave for pastures new at AS Monaco just a matter of games into the fresh fixture list, with Chadli exiting for the principality in a £10m deal.
West Brom supporters would have been pretty disappointed with what their club managed to get out of Chadli, considering he was a flashy statement purchase.
Although he has been capable of delivering the goods for his nation on the biggest stage possible in the World Cup, it has been an up-and-down time for Chadli all across his playing days, with the former £13m buy now a free agent after his KVC Westerlo contract expired this summer.
Corberan will just hope West Brom operate more effectively in the market if Premier League football is realised soon, instead of throwing money at more disappointing duds.
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