Sky Sports pundit thrilled by ‘huge’ Daryl Dike signing at West Brom after official reveal
Clinton Morrison is excited to see Daryl Dike back in the Championship after West Brom signed the USA striker from Orlando City at the weekend.
On Saturday night [1 January], Albion confirmed Dike, 21, has joined on a permanent basis from the MLS after previously impressing in a loan spell at Barnsley last season when Valerien Ismael was in charge at Oakwell.
Dike was officially unveiled in front of Baggies fans at The Hawthorns on Sunday during half-time in the 1-1 draw against Cardiff.
Ex-Birmingham striker Morrison has now tipped Ismael’s side to win promotion back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs with Dike spearheading the attack.
Speaking on EFL On Quest on Sunday night, Morrison said: “Huge deal, this may be the one that could get them promoted.
“I don’t think they’ll go up in the top-two but they’ve got a good chance in the play-offs.
“I liked him when he was at Barnsley – he can do everything.
“He holds the ball up, runs in behind and, all-importantly, he scores goals. And he’s obviously been managed by Ismael as well.”
Stunning business
We’re delighted to see Dike on board – but why wasn’t this deal completed in the summer?
West Brom’s promotion bid has come undone in the last few months due to a shocking lack of goals.
In our last 11 Championship matches, we’ve celebrated just six goals, which justifies the worries we had about our strikers at the end of the summer.
But in Dike, Ismael now has a striker who he knows he can work with and he knows how to find the back of the net.
Dike scored nine goals in 22 appearances for Barnsley last season and after returning to Orlando City in the summer, he went on to score 11 goals in 19 MLS appearances.
According to The Athletic, Albion have paid an initial £7million for Dike, making him cheaper than £8million flop Kenneth Zohore as it stands.
However, there’s also a 20 per cent sell-on clause in the deal and the chance for Orlando City to make extra money through performance-based bonuses [ESPN].
It’s a very good deal, nonetheless.
We now have a proper striker who’s young, already an international, already tasted English football, already knows our manager and could be worth a lot more money in the future.
Albion have let us down a lot in recent years but let’s hope this is the turning of a new page for the club.
In other West Brom news, an ex-FIFA official expects a ban for this Baggies man after footage emerged from the Cardiff match.
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