One thing blighted Zoltan Gera's time at West Brom - It is a shame | OneFootball

Zoltan Gera will go down as a club legend at West Brom, but his second spell at the club may have slightly tarnished his previous successes.

Back in 2004, Zoltan Gera arrived to West Brom as a largely unknown quantity.

The Hungarian linked up at The Hawthorns for a reported £1.5 million fee from native side Ferencvaros, with the Baggies beating off interest from several European clubs including RC Lens, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Spartak Moscow to secure his signature.

Furthermore, the midfielder reportedly turned down a lucrative offer from Galatasaray to fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League.

In his first spell at the club, Gera would go on to show the Albion faithful his fantastic qualities as a creative playmaker to secure himself as a Baggies legend, and one of their best-ever bargain buys.

However, when returning to the club for a second time, Gera may have slightly tarnished his reputation, given that spell was consistently disrupted by injury.

Zoltan Gera’s excellent first spell with West Brom turned him into a club legend

After gaining promotion to the Premier League under Gary Megson, West Brom were aiming to build a squad good enough to establish themselves in the top-flight, and Zoltan Gera was brought to the club to maximise their output in the final third.

Gera was the club’s third signing of the summer window after they had already signed Nwankwo Kanu on a free transfer from Arsenal, as well as Jonathan Greening from Middlesbrough.

During his maiden season at the club, Gera was an instrumental player to the way Albion wanted to play. The Hungarian brought creativity and an eye for goal to the Hawthorns and contributed an impressive six goals in 38 Premier League appearances.

Famously, West Brom made history and avoided relegation on the final day of the season with a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth to secure the great escape after being bottom of the table at Christmas.

If it were not for Gera's contributions, the Baggies would have been relegated at the first time of asking. The Hungarian's goals essentially secured nine of the Baggies' 34 points that season.

The Baggies were unable to extend their run in the top-flight the following season though, with the club missing Gera’s presence as the midfielder only played 15 times, netting twice.

Gera would go on to be a major force in the Championship though and be critical to their eventual promotion back to the big time.

With Tony Mowbray at the helm, the now 46-year-old was a regular starter, featuring 40 times, registering five goals and seven assists as Albion were edged out in the play-off final by Derby County.

But Albion would respond by clinching promotion at the second attempt, with Gera rather expectedly at the heart of their attacking prowess.

This time from 43 games, Gera would improve on his previous tally to notch eight goals and seven assists, before earning a move to London with Fulham.

After his previous exploits, the majority of West Brom supporters would have been delighted to see the club confirm the return of Zoltan Gera ahead of the 2011/12 campaign.

But it would be far from a dream reunion, with Gera playing just three times in the opening season of his second spell, with the Hungarian ruled out from matchday 14 onwards with a cruciate ligament tear.

The playmaker would eventually work his way back to full fitness but suffered the same injury from matchday 22 the following term, leading to the end of his season once again and playing just 16 times.

His second cruciate ligament tear would keep Gera out for the first six games of the 2013-14 campaign, while he then picked up a hamstring issue which led to him missing an additional four matches.

On his comeback, Gera’s minutes were scattered as he aimed to become a first-team regular again.

While he did earn some starts, Gera was reduced to cameo appearances off the bench for the majority of the time, before missing the final six games of the term with another complaint, as he struggled to maintain consistent fitness.

That would prove to be the final curtain on his Albion stint, with Gera then moving back to Hungary and with Ferencváros.

Zoltan Gera’s second spell may have slightly tarnished West Brom legacy

While Zoltan Gera was such an imperative cog to the Albion machine that earned a promotion and the great escape, it was a shame to see his second spell end in such injury-ridden circumstances, with a player of his quality not deserving of such a sour ending.

West Brom fans will of course keep all the wonderful memories of his first spell, but his second outing for the club will always be looked back on too with sheer disappointment, and undoubtedly tarnishes the club legend status he originally built for himself.

If Gera could have maintained his fitness, then he may well have steered Albion away from the relegation drop sooner than they eventually did under Pepe Mel, while the club could have also been on the other side of the spectrum and tasted European success with his presence after previously registering tenth and eighth-placed finishes with Roy Hodgson and Steve Clarke respectively.

Even though the Hungarian produced so many stunning moments in a blue and white shirt, there may be some regret there that he didn’t leave his glorious time in the Black Country in the past, as he was unable to add anything substantial during that second three-year stint.