West Brom will hope to replicate £8.25m transfer to boost Premier League dream | OneFootball

Albion will be hoping to uncover the next Matheus Pereira to help them return to the Premier League.

West Brom are spending their fourth successive season in the Championship since relegation from the Premier League back in 2021.

The Baggies face a much more challenging prospect of returning to the Premier League given their parachute payments window have run out, meaning they are having to push themselves even further to topple the bigger clubs that drop from the top flight each season.

They have managed to compete towards the top end of the division though, in recent years, narrowly being edged out by Southampton in a play-off semi-final last year, despite limited financial resources under previous owner Guochuan Lai.

West Brom did manage to secure promotion under the Chinese businessman’s tenure in 2020 under Slaven Bilic, as Albion hobbled over the line during the COVID-19 pandemic to secure a return to the Premier League after a two-year spell away.

One of the most influential signings to help return West Brom among the elite sides in English football was Brazilian playmaker Matheus Pereira, who originally joined on loan and then permanently the following season for a reported fee of £8.25 million.

Such a joy to watch and a pivotal player in the side, Albion will be hoping to replicate a similar transfer to help get back to the Premier League again, as signings made in the post-Pereira era haven’t replaced the 28-year-old’s impact so far.

Matheus Pereira’s dazzling two seasons at West Brom

After play-off heartache to Aston Villa in 2019, former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was recruited to take Albion back to the promised land.

During the summer transfer window, the Black Country outfit utilised the loan market extremely well by bringing Matheus Pereira to the club on loan from Sporting Lisbon, and the attacking midfielder would go on to play a huge role in their promotion success.

In his first venture in English football, Pereira’s dazzling technical ability and creativity was clear for all to see, adding a different dimension to Albion’s attack that they had lacked in previous years.

The Brazilian recorded eight goals and an incredible 20 assists from 42 league games, turning him into a much-loved fan favourite at The Hawthorns. These numbers would see him earn a couple of accolades too, being voted as Supporter's Player of the Season at the club, whilst also earning a spot in the EFL Team of the Season.

Such a dominant force in the Championship, Albion activated Pereira’s buy-out clause to have him for the Premier League campaign.

Despite relegation, he toppled every other squad member for attacking returns, notching 11 goals and six assists from 33 league outings - an outstanding tally to produce in such a struggling team.

Pereira eventually made the move away from the Hawthorns in 2021, joining Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, for a fee believed to be somewhere between £25m-£30m.

Since Matheus Pereira exited the West Midlands, Albion have rather unsurprisingly failed to replace a player of his quality.

The Baggies in recent years have supplied the likes of John Swift and Grady Diangana behind the striker to fill the void, but both haven’t come close to producing what Pereira could in a blue and white shirt.

Particularly under the tenure of Carlos Corberan, the number ten position has been a crucial role in that system going forward, and such a lack of flair in the role has immensely limited the service to the strikers, and led to the West Midlands outfit going on runs of inconsistent form due to periods of toothless attacking play.

With Pereira on the ball, forwards were always guaranteed regular goalscoring opportunities to put opponents away with ease, but without such talented vision, the Baggies lack a cutting edge to push towards automatic promotion or be a stronger side heading into a play-off battle.

If Albion prioritised filling this position with an overseas player, then the club would have a chance of uncovering another gem like Pereira, who would be the missing piece to the Baggies frontline to link up with the talented duo of Josh Maja and Tom Fellows.

If new controlling shareholder Shilen Patel wants to get the Baggies back to the top flight as quickly as possible, then recruiting a dynamic and creative spark in the final third would go a long way to achieving that ambition.