View: Imminent West Brom signing will give Baggies instant lift in PL
Filip Krovinovic should be a West Brom player again in the very near future, with reports saying the deal will be done on Monday.
West Brom have agreed a deal to take the midfielder on loan for another season.
He will join Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson as the fourth player who was at the Hawthorns last season to return for another spell.
Bilic has been keen to bring back the loanees who helped the Baggies secure automatic promotion to the Premier League last season, and with the signing of Krovinovic, albeit on loan, he has achieved this.
But why has Bilic been so keen to bring back Krovinovic?
The 25-year-old Croatian played 40 times for the Baggies last season scoring three goals and registering four assists. Krovinovic was favoured on the left side of midfield, as his average position map for last season shows. (Wyscout)
Krovinovic also boasted some impressive stats from last season. Across his 40 appearances, he maintained a 86.8% passing accuracy, with the accuracy of his passes into the third being 88%.
He also helped out defensively, winning just more than half of his defensive duels, 54.7%, and averaging 3.29 interceptions per 90 in the Championship.
The midfielder also averaged 5.57 recoveries in the opposition half per 90 last season, which is a testament to the tireless work rate and determination Krovinovic possesses.
But it is offensively where Krovinovic does his best work, and the awareness in front of goal he has shown on occasion can help him add more goals to his game. His goal from last season against Blackburn shows this.
The images below show Krovinovic inside the Blackburn box, before cleverly slipping away from his marker, into the prime position to finish into an open net.
This is the kind of goal a seasoned striker would score, and shows that the Croatian is capable of bringing some much-needed goals into Slaven Bilic’s side. If nothing else he will also provide more depth and strength to a squad who will be fighting against relegation this season.
Both Bilic and Baggies fans alike will be hoping Krovinovic’s second spell at the Hawthorns is a successful one.
In other West Brom news, View – Unfortunate circumstances surely absolve key WBA player of blame in late draw v Chelsea.
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