West Brom: Shilen Patel and Carlos Corberan should look at £8m disaster as warning | OneFootball

As Carlos Corberan and Shilen Patel undoubtedly dip into the winter window next month, lessons can be learned from an £8m disaster.

Slaven Bilic was a manager that made many modern-day memories at The Hawthorns, delivering the ultimate dream of promotion back to the Premier League, but he also delivered West Brom a nightmare.

The summer of 2019 was a perplexing period for the majority of Baggies fans.

New manager Bilic quickly began an overhaul of the struggling squad and notably made many signings that left a lasting impression on West Brom fans, including Matheus Pereira, Callum Robinson and even two that still don the blue and white stripes, Darnell Furlong and Semi Ajayi.

However, one signing immediately stole the headlines and had a job convincing Baggies supporters before a ball was even kicked, when it was announced on the 19th of July 2019, the signing of Kenneth Zohore from Cardiff City.

Questions were raised not only about the goal return the Danish forward would deliver to The Hawthorns, but at the price point it would cost, with a fee being agreed at £8m, a figure that seemed insanity considering the Dane managed to net only once in the top-flight the previous campaign (Fotmob).

This apprehension largely stemmed from the marks Oliver Burke and Brown Ideye had previously left at the club, and the Baggies were fearful of a lack of luck when it came to big-budget additions, but Slaven Bilic was hopeful Zohore would be a key player in his promotion-hopeful side.

Bilic's comments weren't proved right

Zohore provided nothing at West Brom

Unfortunately, Zohore failed to leave a lasting impression on the West Brom supporters and became a signing even less difficult to comprehend as the striker quickly fell out of favour as Bilics' Baggies began to soar.

Zohore only saw his name in the starting eleven five times in the 2019/20 season, three of which came in the opening three games of the campaign, and he only scored five goals across his 20 appearances in the same season the Baggies bounced back to the Premier League.

Zohore's slow movement and inability to read the game left him out of favour with the fast, dynamic style Bilic brought to The Hawthorns, and he foresaw little future for the forward to join the Albion in the top-tier and sent him back to the second for a temporary spell at The Den.

The Dane found greater fortune at Millwall than he had in the Midlands, but not by a significant amount, only starting 10 of his 17 appearances, and his goal count reached only three for the term.

Even when the Baggies were relegated back down to the second tier under new management the very next season, Zohore appeared to have little first-team future in the fight to bounce back to the Premier League and would play only three more times before departing the club in January 2023.

Across three-and-a-half years, the struggling striker made just three starts, five appearances (the same as he had managers) and played 873 minutes for the first team, just 229 more than he registered for the Baggies U21 ranks and the club recouped £0 of the £8m investment made in the forward.

After leaving West Brom, Zohore also failed to make a lasting impression anywhere else, playing just 11 first-team games in 2023, and remaining a free agent to this day.

Lessons can be learned from the Danish disaster

West Brom need to get attacking addition right

As Carlos Corberan and Shilen Patel ready West Brom for another window, the £8m man is a case study to beware of especially considering the likelihood Albion action a move for a backup forward.

Patel has already demonstrated in the summer market his pivot in transfer policy away from the big contracts Albion have historically offered, something Zohore was symptomatic of under the previous ownership's structure.

The Dane was granted an estimated £20,000 a week contract, one that would have put him amongst the highest earners of the new regime (Capology).

It appears experience of the division was something overvalued by the club's hierarchy within that season as the striker's successive seasons in Wales attracted Albion to Zohore, but this is a mistake Patel has already looked to rectify, utilising the wider European market to source gems for a fraction of the fee.

Greater attention must also be paid to the injury record of any transfer targets especially as Albion wish to avoid another long-term absentee to join Daryl Dike in the medical room, and is also something that could have detracted the Dane from even stepping foot into The Hawthorns.

Before joining the Albion, Zohore missed 155 days through injuries at Cardiff and would spend 225 on the sidelines whilst under contract at West Brom (Transfermarkt).

With West Brom's place in the play-off push already starting to slip away, Corberan and Patel cannot afford any mistakes in the winter window if they wish to keep their promotion prayer alive.

Mistakes like Zohore cannot be repeated.