West Brom may regret failed transfer pursuit for Rangers record-breaker: View | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion will have had many transfer deals fall through down the years, but not many may be as disappointing as not signing James Tavernier.

A few years ago, the defender was probably unknown in the game, as he was working his way up in the Rangers team.

But now the full-back has become one of the best attacking defenders in England and Scotland, and he could have been playing for the Baggies if everything had worked out.

West Brom saw a £3 million bid rejected for James Tavernier in 2018

It was the summer of the 2018/19 season, and West Brom were preparing for life back in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League.

Darren Moore was in charge of the club, and in that summer, he - along with the club’s board - decided to pursue a move for James Tavernier from Rangers.

It was reported in that summer that the Baggies saw a £3 million bid rejected by the Scottish side for the defender.

Tavernier joined the Gers in 2015 from Wigan Athletic and, at the time, was playing regularly for Steven Gerrard’s team, scoring in their opening game of the season against Aberdeen.

At the time, it was reported by Sky Sports that Rangers would be willing to sell the player if their valuation was met. It was unclear what that valuation was, but given how well Tavernier has gone on to do for Rangers, it was a missed opportunity for the Midlands side.

In 2018, West Brom were preparing for life in the Championship, and it seemed that manager Darren Moore was keen to strengthen the defensive side of his team.

James Tavernier was obviously someone who was identified by the club, but for whatever reason, they didn’t pursue a move after this failed £3 million bid.

Now, the club would have had their own reasons for that, but given how the Baggies haven’t really had any amazing right-backs since and the fact that Tavernier has become so key for Rangers, it looks to have been a very big missed opportunity for the club.

Tavernier was relatively unknown at the higher levels, coming through at Newcastle United before playing at Rotherham United and Wigan - the former being a loan stint.

However, Rangers decided to take a chance on the defender, and what a move it was for both the player and the club.

Tavernier scored 10 goals and recorded 18 assists in his first season for the club in the Scottish Championship as the Glasgow outfit were climbing back up the Scottish footballing pyramid following past financial struggles - and the right-back has continued at that impressive rate throughout each of the seasons he has been at the club.

Last season was yet another memorable campaign for the player, as Tavernier ended the league season with 16 goals and nine assists.

The defender was averaging a goal every 210 minutes of football, as he was proving to be a pest in front of goal. He was averaging 2.2 shots per game, with 1.1 on target, and that helped him have a goal conversion rate of 20%, as per Sofascore.com.

As well as scoring goals, Tavernier was also impressive at creating chances for his teammates, as he has been since he joined the club.

The Rangers right-back created 13 big chances for his teammates, which helped him collect 2.9 key passes and helped him grab the assists that he got, as per Sofascore.com.

These numbers will constantly annoy West Brom and their supporters, as they will always think of what could have been, and now that Tavernier has broken the goal-scoring record for a defender, it will be even more hurtful to the Baggies.

West Brom will have had their own reasons to not want to pursue a move for the defender at the time, and whether they were for the right or wrong reasons, it looks like a move that was very silly by West Brom, as Tavernier continues to go from strength to strength with Rangers.