View: Stats surely show reported West Brom interest in 31y/o isn’t worth pursuing
West Brom could be set for a busy summer of transfer activity if they secure promotion to the Premier League.
A return to the top flight would likely lead to some kind of spending spree in an effort to prepare Slaven Bilic’s squad for life amongst English football’s elite, and there have already been a couple of interesting transfer tidbits that have surfaced in recent weeks.
The Baggies are said to be interested in Fenerbahce hitman Vedat Muriqi, as well as Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida.
The latter is said to be available for a fee of around £8.7 million this summer, but is he the sort of player that Albion should be pursuing?
Ex-Hawthorns striker Kevin Phillips has already pointed out the need for a new centre-back to West Brom News, and on first glance, Vida looks like a decent enough option in certain areas, statistically speaking.
So far this term, the Croatia international has averaged a very impressive pass completion rate of 92.6%, as well as registering a total of 70.2 successful action per 90 minutes, as per Wyscout.
Both of those figures are higher than Kyle Bartley’s equivalent numbers this term.
But if you’re signing a defender, you want him to be able to defend, and in that regard Vida looks to fall a little short of the mark compared to what the Baggies already have at their disposal.
In 2019/20, the Besiktas talent has averaged 4.49 interceptions per match, compared to Bartley’s 5.42, and has an aerial duel win rate of just 54.9% compared to the Albion star’s 72.5%.
Bartley also averages more contested aerial duels, 6.84, putting his total number of successful duels at 4.96 per 90 minutes.
As illustrated in the graph above, Vida has won more than four aerial duels on just one occasion this season.
Similarly, the 31-year-old’s total duel win rate, aerial or otherwise, is 11.1% worse than Bartley’s.
The West Brom defender wins 68.7% of his 16.38 contests per game, giving him a total success average of 11.25 per game.
Again, as illustrated by the graph above, Vida does not measure up.
Just twice this season has he exceeded Bartley’s average, whereas the Baggies favourite has registered 12 or more successful duels in 16 outings this term.
That’s not to say that Vida is a bad player by any means, but given his age and the reported asking price he would command, you would like to think that he would offer a notable improvement on our current defensive options.
Evidently, he does not, and you have to ask whether pursuing him would be a wise move after all.
We’re not sure it would be.
In other West Brom news, ‘Send it straight to Sporting’ – West Brom Super Fans react to reported transfer cash injection.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.