Luke Dowling’s refusal to sign Mislav Orsic has come back to bite West Brom
Mislav Orsic tore Tottenham apart for Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday and it is a case of what might have been for West Brom.
The winger scored a hat-trick to knock Spurs out of the Europa League, but he could have made a switch to The Hawthorns in 2020.
The Telegraph reported that Slaven Bilic was keen on signing Orsic but Luke Dowling decided against it due to a lack of scouting, according to Birmingham Live.
Orsic has scored 14 goals in 21 league games this season and given West Brom’s struggles, Dowling and co. are likely regretting the decision not to make a move.
The fact he could have cost £5.9million [Aleksandar Holiga, via BirminghamLive] makes this missed transfer even more difficult to bear.
To make things even worse, Slaven Bilic signed Kamil Grosicki and Callum Robinson instead – the latter the equivalent of a £15million signing as he was swapped for Oliver Burke.
Robinson has been a flop with six goals in 38 games for Albion – we could have had a Europa League quality winger on our left-flank instead.
Orsic scored some great goals against Tottenham, his third a brilliant solo run before finding the bottom corner from outside the box.
Albion have lacked a player with that spark and energy throughout the campaign, and even when at their best Matheus Pereira and Grady Dianagana struggle to compare to Orsic.
Too often in recent transfer windows, Dowling has played things safe by signing players who have previously played in England.
When he did take a gamble by bringing in Pereira it worked out really well, so we urge him to pursue this avenue in the summer.
There is an opportunity to find hidden gems on the cheap like Orsic and it is frustrating that we are not willing to take a chance.
Orsic will likely continue to impress in Europe and we would not be surprised to see him earn a big move for big money.
We had the chance to develop the 28-year-old and sell him at a profit but once again Dowling has let us down.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has hailed one Baggies star following news this week.
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.