West Brom took a while to get going in the summer so when Kenneth Zohore finally signed and then scored his goal, it brought joy to the faces of those who gather at the Hawthorns.
Fast forward nearly six months later and the signs are ominous.
Zohore is nowhere near the level required and the very fact he’s been surpassed by Hal Robson-Kanu in the pecking order sums proceedings up.
In fact, it’s rather remarkable that the big Dane cost £8m. In today’s market that may seem like a snip but he was the most expensive acquisition Slaven Bilic made last summer.
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For Luke Dowling, a man so often in charge of contract negotiations, this will have to go down as a big mistake.
There haven’t been many this season, such was their impressive work in luring players like Semi Ajayi and Matheus Pereira to Albion, but this is one of his biggest, especially when you consider the expenditure.
Ajayi was a bargain at just over £1m and has performed on a consistent basis, winning four aerial duels per game. Pereira, on the other hand, has a colossal ten assists and five goals.
But if you compare those two performers to Zohore, a man who is set to cost £1m less than Albion’s dynamic Brazilian, he has netted just twice. He also hasn’t scored since September.
It tells a sorry story of his time in the Hawthorns, but it wasn’t as though the Baggies didn’t have prior warning. It may have been the Premier League but he scored just once in 2018/19.
Journalist Joseph Chapman recently admitted that Zohore was a long way from starting and on Boxing Day, he proved why that was exactly the case.
Replacing Charlie Austin just after the hour mark in the draw with Barnsley, West Brom’s lack of depth up front took the spotlight as the former Cardiff man put in a typically poor performance.
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Per WhoScored, he amassed just seven touches in his 18 minutes on the field, while his only shot of the game was an effort off target. As far as displays go, this was anonymous as Zohore also failed to win an aerial duel.
This was the forward’s first appearance since early November but it was one that proved why the 25-year-old had been so neglected from the side. West Brom needed someone to extend their lead but instead, it was a wasted substitute and one that came back to haunt Albion.
Dowling must be cursing why he spent so much money on him during the summer months.
In other news, cold water has been poured over West Brom’s links to Jarrod Bowen…
