Southampton agree £7m deal for Mislav Orsic, he once almost joined West Brom
Mislav Orsic is set to finally make his move to England but it could have been West Brom who signed the Croatian, according to The Mirror [6 January, page 53].
The 30-year-old is on the brink of sealing a £7million move to Premier League side Southampton to try and help their survival cause in the top flight with medicals already booked.
The Croatian international, though, was very close to signing for either the Baggies or fellow Championship outfit Burnley at one stage.
The Mirror claim the Saints also want Everton defender Michael Keane and Lorient striker Terem Moffi but West Brom aren’t in the race for those players.
Different gravy
Orsic would do some serious damage in the Championship having already scored against Chelsea and AC Milan for Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League this season.
He would quite easily keep Grady Diangana, Matt Phillips and company firmly in the shadows if he had made the move to The Hawthorns and put on the famous navy and white stripes.
Annoyingly, he did not leave the Croatian champions for the Midlands and he has earned his move to the Premier League with the Saints who are desperately needing his industry to try and turn around their season.
The way this campaign has gone so far, it would not be out of the ordinary for West Brom and Southampton to swap places next season with Carlos Corberan leading a revolution at Albion.
Nathan Jones hasn’t managed the same turnaround at St Mary’s and Orsic won’t want to play second-tier football next season so maybe the door isn’t closed just yet.
In other West Brom news, one loan agreement has already come to an end after just eight matches despite seven of those games being unbeaten.