A real bust: West Brom transfer gamble for Sherjill Mac-Donald - Tony Mowbray called him a "special talent" | OneFootball

Sherjill Mac-Donald failed to show the Baggies what he could offer on the pitch

West Bromwich Albion's decision to sign Dutch striker Sherjill Mac-Donald was probably one of the most confusing transfer decisions of the Tony Mowbray era.

Making his initial loan move permanent in the first place was particularly weird. Having arrived from AGOVV Apeldoorn in January 2007 - Holland's second-tier - the forward didn't start a single game for the Black Country outfit.

Yet Mowbray remained convinced of the player's abilities, describing his qualities in glowing terms after paying £200k to prolong his stay the following year.

"Talent is hard to come by and when you have got someone with the ability Sherjill has to beat an individual in a one-on-one situation, we shouldn't be discarding him," Mowbray told the Baggies' official website.

Sherjill Mac-Donald was lauded as a "special talent" by Tony Mowbray

Ironically, Mac-Donald's most productive spell playing in this country came immediately after his permanent signing - when he was loaned out to League Two side Hereford United for a month.

By that point, he had made 25 appearances for the Baggies, but every single one was from the bench.

Upon moving to Edgar Street, Mac-Donald netted a brace on his debut over Dagenham and Redbridge, scoring the first after just nine minutes. He then went on to follow that up with a hat-trick against Rochdale just three days later.

It was whilst the former Dutch U21 international was on loan, Mowbray claimed Mac-Donald was a "special talent" and that the club "could have sent him out to a Championship club, and we talked about that", instead of Hereford.

Tony Mowbray's man failed to make an impact back at West Brom

When West Brom won the Championship in 2008 under Mowbray, not many perhaps would've expected Mac-Donald would feature in the top-flight the following season - but he did.

Mac-Donald appeared five times in the top-flight as the Baggies ultimately finished bottom of the table with 32 points.

In fact, Albion managed only eight wins from 38 games - scoring 26 goals while letting 67 in. It was clear Mac-Donald's inability to contribute to anything showed why Mowbray's gamble had gone wrong.

How Sherjill Mac-Donald's exit from The Hawthorns came about

By January 2009, 12 months after his permanent signing, Mac-Donald was loaned out to Belgian side Roeselare. This effectively ended his West Brom career as he agreed to join another Belgian team permanently that May, Germinal Beerschot.

Whilst at Roeselare, the then-24-year-old scored six times in 15 league games. Despite his relatively young age, the subsequent move to Beerschot meant that was the striker's seventh club of his career.

The most obvious suggestion as to why his Albion career went so wrong is probably because he just wasn't good enough for the top leagues in Europe.

Mac-Donald's short spell at Hereford showed there was some genuine ability there, as he ended up scoring six times in seven matches, but League Two is an obvious world away from both the Championship and Premier League.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though. According to Sky Sports, West Brom made £450k on the Dutchman - as their fee from Beerschot was reportedly £650k.