Danny Wright

Tue 14 January 2020 15:27, UK

It has been a month today since West Brom fans last saw their team win a Championship fixture and although Slaven Bilic’s men remain top of the table and seven points clear of third, there are concerns that a bid for automatic promotion is faltering.

Grady Diangana’s injury absence has clearly played a major role in that. The 21-year-old returned from his spell on the sidelines on Saturday when he came off the bench in the 2-2 draw at Charlton. However, the fact remains that out of the six league games that Diangana has missed since joining on loan from West Ham, the Baggies have not won once.

There is still the real threat of West Ham recalling Diangana from his loan spell at The Hawthorns too. There have been many conflicting reports about where the England Under-21 international will be playing come February and understandably, Bilic and the West Brom hierarchy will be working behind the scenes to bring in a replacement should David Moyes take the decision to cut short the attacker’s loan spell in the Black Country.

One player who has been recently linked with West Brom – who could be seen as a possible replacement for Diangana – is Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia attacker Mislav Orsic.

Croatian news outlet Sportske Novosti have reported that the Baggies have had their sights on Orsic, 27, for well over a month and there are efforts being made to lure him to The Hawthorns in January.

It could cost £8.5million to sign the former Ulsan Hyundai attacker – and his record in front of goal this season would suggest he could be worth every penny of that.

Orsic has scored 19 goals in 26 appearances across all competitions this season for Dinamo Zagreb and before you point out that he plays in a league that is not exactly known for it’s strength, seven of those goals have come in Champions League qualifying and group stages.

Atalanta, who currently sit fourth in Serie A, felt the brunt of Orsic’s goalscoring prowess in September when he netted a hat-trick against them.

Orsic’s hat-trick led to the Croatian press hailing the 27-year-old’s adventure “from unknown to a Champions League star”.

Croatian journalist Robert Matteoni said: “He’s an excellent attacker who looked promising after his First Division debut 10 years ago. But then he went through a period of bad choices and changes that slowed down his development.” [AFP]

Orsic has had somewhat of a journeyman career.

The Zagreb-born attacker spent the early part of his career in Croatia before heading to Asia where he played for Jeonnam Dragons and Ulsan Hyundai in South Korea and Changchun Yatai in China.

Dinamo signed Orsic for him to return to Croatia in 2018 and his form at his hometown club led to him earning the first of his three senior international caps last year.

Orsic may be 27-years-old and been on quite the adventurous career – but he is still one of the leading players in Croatian football at the moment and ex-Croatia boss Bilic is bound to know all about that.

West Brom’s attack has found it difficult to break down opposition in recent weeks and that has led to fewer goals being scored and a drop in form.

Yes, Diangana’s absence could have played a role in that but Orsic is the kind of player who could be able to breathe new life into the Baggies offensive if he was snapped up by Bilic this month.

Orsic is mainly a left-sided winger, so the presumption that he could be on Albion’s radar to replace Diangana is fair if West Ham recall the winger. However the Croatia international is also known to play on the right-wing, where Matt Phillips has struggled lately, or up front as a centre-forward.

West Brom may well be eyeing up Orsic regardless of what happens with Diangana.

Orsic can use and score with both feet. He can cut inside. He has pace. He loves to stand on the last line of defence (thankfully there is no VAR in the Championship) and most importantly, he knows how to stick the ball past a goalkeeper.

Orsic is not the most defensive-minded of wingers but West Brom are no longer managed by Tony Pulis and keeping attacking players in the attack is how the Baggies are going to score more goals and win more games in the second half of the season. It sounds so simple doesn’t it?

Orsic certainly makes it look simple anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIFIxoT50mc

Stats by WhoScored show that the Croatian wide-man averaged 2.8 shots at goal in his six Champions League group stage appearances this season.

He also averaged 0.7 completed dribbles, 0.8 key passes and 0.5 crosses.

In the Championship, Diangana has averaged 1.6 shots at goal per appearance, 2.5 dribbles, 1.4 key passes and 0.4 crosses.

Looking at those stats show just how much more direct Orsic is than Diangana.

The Croatian loves to get inside and almost act as a striker than a winger. Imagine how well he could combine with the hold-up play of Hal Robson-Kanu.

West Brom’s attack is begging for a player like Orsic to add some new impetus in the second half of the campaign and as the Croatia international ticks so many boxes, is it about time that Mark Jenkins, Luke Dowling and Bilic get their heads together and sanction a deal for the forward as soon as possible?

In other West Brom news, a former Premier League defender is heading to the West Midlands for a trial with the Baggies.