West Brom must still be reeling from disastrous £8m player deal: View | OneFootball

Kenneth Zohore was one of the top players at Cardiff City before he moved to West Bromwich Albion.

The Danish striker spent four seasons at the Cardiff City Stadium, which included one season on loan before joining on a permanent deal. This included a year in the Premier League, as his goals helped Neil Warnock's side win promotion to the top tier in 2017.

He scored nine times in the promotion year, while adding a sole Premier League goal in the season that saw the Bluebirds relegated at the first time of asking. Despite struggling with injuries and scoring goals in the top tier, Zohore garnered the attention of clubs that summer.

West Brom signed Zohore for £8 million in the summer of 2019

After Cardiff suffered relegation from the Premier League, Zohore made the move to fellow Championship side West Brom in July 2019. The deal was reportedly for an £8 million transfer fee, and stands as the third-highest transfer fee the club has ever received for a player.

While this fee seemed like a high one, West Brom signed the striker who Warnock demanded £30 million from Everton just two years prior. With just a year left on the four-year deal he signed in 2016, the Bluebirds needed to sell the 25-year-old that summer, or risk losing him on a free transfer a year later.

Zohore's stats for Cardiff were unspectacular. 24 goals and 11 assists in 101 matches does not too impressive, but his general play was why he was so highly valued. He excelled as a target man, with his strength, speed and power making him a fantastic option up front. He held the ball up well, often allowing wingers Junior Hoilett and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to come into the game more.

It looked like a good fee for the Bluebirds, but they did not spend it well. They bought replacements in Robert Glatzel and Isaac Vassell, neither of whom impressed during their time at the Cardiff City Stadium.

That does not mean that the Baggies did well out of the transfer on their end, though.

He struggled for West Brom before leaving the club

It would be hard to label Zohore's time at West Brom as anything but an abject failure. He joined with such a promise on a reported £8 million deal, but failed to even come close to paying back that fee with his performances.

Injuries ravaged his first year at the Hawthorns. A calf problem limited him to just 17 appearances in the Championship, with his goal return of just three strikes failing to impress. The Baggies did win promotion to the Premier League that season, but Zohore's performances only earned him a loan back down to the second tier with Millwall.

He returned to the club the following season, but only made two appearances for the Baggies. This was followed by another disappointing loan to Danish Superliga side Odense, before the club mercifully terminated his contract in January 2023 and cut their losses on the big money signing.

In his four years at the Hawthorns, Zohore only played 23 matches in all competitions. His five goals in total is an abysmal return for a striker who cost £8 million, average out at £1.6 million per goal scored. While injuries scuppered the start of his career at the club, he failed to impress when given a chance on the field and struggled to get into any of his manager's good books.

Now Zohore is a free agent and looking for a club. At the age of 30, he could still have years of football ahead of him. It is clear his move to West Brom was the wrong one for the forward, and he never managed to impress the Baggies the way he did in his four years at Cardiff.

West Brom must still be feeling the effects of such a huge transfer fee. Zohore is still their 11th biggest ever signing, and spending so much money on a player to contribute almost nothing must weigh heavy on the Baggies.