Ismael reveals training ground visit from Lai secured Dike for West Brom
Valerien Ismael has spoken about the ‘game changer’ which helped West Brom coup Daryl Dike from Orlando City.
The Baggies signed the American on a four-and-a-half year deal for a fee reported in the excess of £7million as per Mail Online.
Ismael has revealed that Guochuan Lai’s visit to West Brom’s training ground before Christmas was crucial in sealing the deal for the striker.
“It was team work. We started to work on the deal over the past few months,” Ismael told Birmingham Live.
“We prepared very well for the transfer. We recognised quickly that we have struggled to convert our chances and we knew we needed someone capable of scoring goals.
“If you look at the minute which players are scoring the goals, it’s a Fulham player, a Bournemouth player and a Blackburn player. We needed to do something and I think the game changer was the meeting with Mr Lai at the training ground.
“We spoke about the situation, we explained exactly what we needed, why we need it and our vision long-term. I think it was important he understood everything and he got the feeling that we know exactly what we wanted and that always makes things easier.
“When you know exactly what you want, you need to be patient but at least you can give all your energy to getting the result. We got the result with Dike. We wanted first a striker that can score goals and secondly to get him in the first few days of the transfer window.”
Revolutionary
That is a huge step in the right direction for Lai. There have been many occasions where the gaps in West Brom’s squad were so obvious and nothing had been done to resolve the issue.
Having come to the training ground, listened to Ismael and his problems and swiftly acting to rectify them will put increase the Chinese entrepreneur’s stock amongst Albion fans.
It shows the strength of the relationship between Ismael and Lai.
We could have done with this sort of efficiency in times gone by but the (rare) manner in which the Baggies goal scoring crisis has been dealt with is a breath of fresh air for fans.
With Lai completing the signing of Dike so assertively it is crucial the former Barnsley man delivers. If this deal proves to be the decider between promotion or not it could shape the transfer strategy of the club going forward.
If Dike hits form and propels West Brom into the Premier League, the fans might be able to expect this type of no nonsense, problem solving signings in the future.
However, if he is unsuccessful it could scare Lai and be a cautious consideration when looking to bring players in in the future.
In other Baggies news, Norwich City plan to recall Jordan Hugill on loan from West Brom.