View: Bilic may have to reconsider West Brom future of player who’s impressing out on loan
It is tough to find a West Brom fan who has high hopes for the future of Oliver Burke at The Hawthorns.
Since joining the Baggies from RB Leipzig for £15million in 2017, the 22-year-old Scotland international has really struggled to impress in the Black Country.
Last season saw Burke play just three times in the Championship before he was sent on loan to Celtic for the second half of their treble-winning campaign.
It seemed as though he might have had a role to player under Slaven Bilic in August when the ex-Nottingham Forest attacker came off the bench twice in the Championship and started in the Carabao Cup defeat against Millwall.
However in that loss to the Lions, Burke was abysmal and did not feature in any of Bilic’s matchday squads for the rest of August before he was eventually sent out on loan to La Liga side Alaves.
During his time in Spain, Burke has so far made nine league appearances, with seven of those coming from the substitutes bench.
Despite the fact that he is not starting, the Scot is still making an impact.
Alex Fitzpatrick, who is a correspondent for La Liga TV International, has been impressed by what he has seen from Burke.
“When I have seen him he seems to be performing well,” Fitzpatrick told the Express & Star.
“Initially he came into the side as a starting player but Alaves lost both games in which he started, they were tough games, both away from home and against Real Sociedad and Valencia.
“Since then he has been on the bench for Alaves and coming on as substitute each game. He seems to be well suited as he is a technical player.”
He added: “He has definitely shown his quality in the moments that he has been on the pitch but as yet hasn’t done enough to get or hold down a starting spot.
“He has demonstrated that he comes alive in and around the box, but is yet to score his first goal. He did however get an assist in the victory over Real Mallorca in his short time on the pitch.”
Although Burke is not starting many La Liga fixtures, he is still managing to do well and the fact that he is regularly coming off the bench for the last 20-30 minutes of matches, suggests that Alaves boss Asier Garitano is happy to keep sending him on.
Bilic has made good use of his substitutes this season with Hal Robson-Kanu and Filip Krovinovic both making impacts off the bench in recent weeks to help Albion either see out wins or rescue draws.
Who knows, maybe Burke’s time at The Hawthorns is not over just yet?
As impressive as he is off the bench in Spain, it would still be ideal to see him hitting his stride when playing in the starting line-up.
In other West Brom news, Darren Bent has warned Albion about this summer signing.