View: Reported West Brom target would surely offer an improvement in vital area
West Brom have already been linked with a number of strikers ahead of their potential return to the Premier League next season.
Of those mooted targets, however, it would appear that the most likely to actually been on the move this summer is Charlton Athletic hitman Lyle Taylor.
The 30-year-old is one of three players that manager Lee Bowyer has confirmed do not want to play for the Addicks when the Championship season resumes.
The Valley boss has also suggested that the striker is destined for a “life-changing” move this summer.
And Sky Sports have named West Brom as one of the sides who are interested in acquiring his services in the coming weeks.
The forward would be available on a free transfer, but would he an improvement on what Slaven Bilic already has at his disposal at The Hawthorns?
The stats would certainly suggest that he is a much more efficient finisher than Charlie Austin, for instance.
So far this season, Taylor has hit 11 goals in 22 Championship outings, compared to Austin’s eight in 26 games.
The Charlton man also has a shot accuracy rate that is 7.7% better than his Albion counterpart, as per Wyscout.
Perhaps most telling, however, is the fact that Taylor has a goals per game ratio that is 0.04 better than Austin’s despite having an xG that is 0.33 worse.
In a match scenario, that essentially means that he is scoring goals that he has no right to.
A prime example came in his winning goal against Nottingham Forest back in February.
In the image above, Taylor is the player in black at the top of the screen.
He is in a massively disadvantaged position, given how far the ball has to travel and the fact that there are a number of Forest players who could intercept it between him and the passer.
Full credit to the striker, however, he is instantly alive to a potential opportunity, and is already looking to make a run into the danger area.
As the ball is swung in you can already see the march that he has stolen on his defender, turning a potential disadvantage into a much better position.
Taylor also has a real knack for watching the ball, anticipating and adapting his movement to make the best of its flight.
But the hardest part is still to do, and Taylor does fantastically well to not only make contact, but to do so with power and precision.
His finish is hard and low – well-controlled, and ultimately giving the goalkeeper very little chance from such close range.
But even though he ends up taking his shot from a little over six yards out, this is still a hugely difficult goal to score, and one that Taylor carves out for himself through his hard work and creative instinct.
Whether he is ready to make the jump up to the Premier League at such a relatively late stage in his career is a different debate entirely, but if the question is whether or not Taylor would be an improvement on the strikers West Brom already have, you would be inclined to say yes, he would.
In other West Brom news, Bilic has a major dilemma on the horizon for once the season resumes.
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.