View: Defensive masterclass by West Brom 26-year-old in December proved his PL quality
It has been 255 days since West Brom signed Semi Ajayi from Rotherham United and fans still cannot get over the bargain fee Albion managed to sign him for.
Ajayi, 26, cost the Baggies just £1.5million [Express & Star] when he swapped Yorkshire for the West Midlands to become a mainstay of Slaven Bilic’s defence in the Championship.
At the end of last season, Ajayi suffered relegation to League One with Rotherham but Albion clearly saw a lot of quality in the Nigeria international, who filled a major void left by Craig Dawson when he left The Hawthorns for Watford.
Dawson was becoming part of the furniture at West Brom and although he had a disappointing 2018/19 season in the Championship, it was always going to be tough to replace him.
But Ajayi has proven to be a far more reliable defender than Dawson ever was in the second-tier with the Nigerian powerhouse putting in impressive shift after impressive shift for Bilic.
Ajayi’s best performance for West Brom arguably came in December when the Baggies kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Preston at Deepdale.
At the time of the game, the Baggies were top of the table with Alex Neil’s Preston in sixth and unbeaten at home in the Championship.
It was a tough match for Ajayi and his team-mates to go into but the Nigerian’s imperious display at the back helped Albion return to the Black Country with all three points.
Based on stats by WyScout, Ajayi dominated the aerial game at Deepdale by winning 14 of the 18 aerial duels he was involved in – a season-high for the ex-Rotherham ace.
WhoScored shows that Preston are one of the best teams in the league when it comes to the ball being in the air, ranking them fourth by winning an average of 28.5 aerial duels per game.
Ajayi didn’t just boss the air at Deepdale, he also recovered possession a staggering 22 times when his season average per 90 minutes in the Championship this term is 11.18.
Ajayi also made five interceptions – his season-average is five – and only conceded the one free-kick.
The 26-year-old has been fantastic for the Baggies this term and if there are any doubts about whether he can perform in the Premier League, just take one look at that display against Preston.
While Charlie Austin might have scored the goal to win the match, Ajayi was the match-winning player in that game.
In other West Brom news, Albion are unlikely to revive their interest in this player.