West Brom bagged 7-figure windfall in Coventry City deal - but some regrets may linger | OneFootball

The Baggies were delighted to seal big money for Brandon Thomas-Asante, but his recent form for Coventry hints at that being a mistake.

West Brom have had a positive start to the season under Ryan Mason but may be concerned about a recent dip in results.

The Baggies had been unbeaten from their opening four second-tier matches, but are now winless from their last three games, suffering consecutive defeats to Derby County and Middlesbrough before dropping two points in stoppage time to Leicester City last Friday evening.

A common theme for Albion so far this season has been a lack of cutting edge in the final third despite dominating possession, but when the team has created the chances, they’ve failed to take them, which was on display against the Foxes.

Prior to Nat Phillips’ unfortunate own goal at The Hawthorns, Mason’s men had squandered a number of opportunities to double their advantage and seal a precious three points, with Isaac Price failing to convert a volleyed effort, while Josh Maja bizarrely blasted over from a few yards out in the dying embers, which proved to be such a costly miss.

Meanwhile, it’s now over a year since Albion parted ways with forward Brandon Thomas-Asante, selling him to Midlands rivals Coventry City for a reported fee of £2.25m.

While it was a sizeable profit made from their original £500,000 investment and helped ease their financial woes, Albion may be looking back at signing off that deal with some regret, as the 26-year-old’s current form for the Sky Blues under Frank Lampard is something this current West Brom frontline is desperately lacking.

Brandon Thomas-Asante’s surge in form for Coventry City

Brandon Thomas-Asante linked up at the CBS Arena last summer looking to make a fresh impression in the Championship after his two-season stay at Albion, which saw him hit 18 goals in 72 appearances.

Originally signing under Mark Robins and finishing the term with Frank Lampard, the Ghanian international was largely an impact player, starting 14 times from 36 appearances and scoring just four goals.

But he has been a complete revelation at the beginning of this season, forcing his way into Lampard’s plans and becoming a leading figure for the Sky Blues forward line.

Out of their seven Championship matches so far this term, Thomas-Asante has already started on six occasions, netting against Derby County, scoring once and providing two assists against QPR and then getting back on the scoresheet last weekend in a thumping win over Birmingham City.

Thomas-Asante has also been extremely versatile during this short period, occupying places on both wings and the number nine slot when the ex-Chelsea icon has had to call upon him.

West Brom may hold some regret over their Brandon Thomas-Asante sale

In the opening stages of this new Championship campaign, Brandon Thomas-Asante has demonstrated how dangerous he can be at this level, with his raw pace, positional versatility, constant harrying and clinical eye for goal key reasons for the Sky Blues competing towards the top end of the table.

In contrast, to West Brom, they have, at times, looked laboured and ponderous in attacking positions, often lacking quality in the key areas when they need it most to hurt teams.

Thomas-Asante was quite young and unexposed to the second-tier in his playing days at Albion, and if a bit more patience was given to the attacker, then maybe the Black Country outfit could have been the beneficiaries of this type of form and added further value to the price tag they originally sold him for.

He would have also been worth keeping purely from a fitness perspective, as Daryl Dike and Josh Maja have both spent lengthy periods of time on the treatment table and been unable to contribute, whereas Thomas-Asante has shown he can stay fit even in the most relentless periods of seasons.

While it seemed a good idea at the time to sanction a sale, Albion are lacking a guile and dynamism in their attack that could push them on to be firmly in the promotion conversation, and Thomas-Asante would undoubtedly add that based on his recent displays in a Coventry shirt.

Only time will tell whether Albion will regret that choice in the long-term, but they are beginning to look foolish for parting ways with such a talented individual that is hitting his prime for a second-tier rival.