West Brom will not get £7m back but Baggies have one last chance to cash star in | OneFootball

West Brom may consider selling Daryl Dike in January to make some money back on a disastrous investment.

Despite mounting pressure on Ryan Mason, West Brom were able to secure a vital victory over Oxford United before the international break.

The ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder’s future at The Hawthorns was looking bleak after 54 minutes when former Albion loanee Will Lankshear put the U’s in front, but the Baggies rallied, equalising just two minutes later thanks to a Greg Leigh own goal, before Aune Heggebo’s headed effort 20 minutes from time was enough to turn the tie and give Mason some respite heading into another two-week layoff.

Victory over Oxford was just a third win in 11 league games, and you do feel Mason could be under strenuous pressure when league action gets back underway, as West Brom’s run of fixtures doesn’t look too appealing.

Albion’s first game back is an ominous trip to the CBS Arena to face table-topping Coventry City, while the following week sees the Baggies host a fiery West Midlands derby against Birmingham City, before another home clash against Swansea City follows.

If further points aren’t on the board in that time, then you do feel Mason will be up against it once again, with some West Brom supporters still not convinced the 34-year-old is the right man to lead the club forward into a new dawn despite earning three points last weekend.

In terms of the way Mason is utilising the playing squad, one man who hasn’t featured a lot once again has been American striker Daryl Dike.

Ever since linking up at The Hawthorns, he has been ravaged by injuries, with thigh and back issues his latest problems during this campaign. However, since returning and being part of the matchday squads, Dike has featured just three times and remained an unused substitute in Albion’s last two games, much to the dismay of the Albion faithful.

It’s been a disastrous return on a £7m investment back in January 2022, with the frontman unable to provide any consistency with his fitness, while he isn’t trusted by the coaching staff to have sizeable run outs without breaking down again.

And with Dike’s contract running down next summer, the Baggies may be considering trying to get some money for him in the January transfer window instead of letting him go on a free at the end of the season.

Daryl Dike’s injury woes at West Brom

As mentioned, it’s been such a struggle for Daryl Dike to stay fit in a West Brom shirt, with the 25-year-old suffering a plethora of injury issues that have badly disrupted his stay at The Hawthorns.

His first injury absence came after suffering a hamstring issue in a 3-0 victory over Peterborough United in January 2022, which was only his second appearance and start for the club.

After the departure of Valerien Ismael, Steve Bruce would only be able to call upon the number nine once throughout his eight-month tenure in B71, and after appearing on the opening day of the 2022/23 season, the striker was hit with a thigh issue which would keep him out for another three months.

His most consistent run of games in the blue and white stripes arrived when Carlos Corberan joined in October 2022, with the Spaniard handing Dike a run of 22 straight appearances from November through to April, which saw him record seven goals and one assist, before the first of two Achilles-related injuries hit.

Dike then returned to action at the turn of the following year, marking it with a goal in a routine 4-1 victory over Aldershot Town in the FA Cup.

But following four substitute cameos, the striker's rotten luck would return once more, as he was stretchered off in the second half of a pulsating 2-2 draw with eventual promotion winners, Ipswich Town.

By the time he came back again, Tony Mowbray had entered the dugout following Corberan’s departure at Christmas, but again Dike was a bit-part player under the 61-year-old, although he did net on the final day against Luton Town when handed a start under interim boss James Morrison.

Flash forward to the present day, and Dike is still unable to get any sort of meaningful gametime under Mason despite recovering from his injuries, and it doesn’t seem he has much of a future left now as he is third-choice striker behind Josh Maja and Aune Heggebo.

As mentioned, Daryl Dike appears to be way down the pecking order under Ryan Mason and is barely getting a look-in, as Josh Maja and Aune Heggebo have shared the majority of minutes when leading the line.

It’s particularly difficult for Dike to try and secure regular minutes too, given Mason prefers to play a one-striker system, and the Baggies hierarchy may feel that extra funds have to be spent in the January transfer window in order to help sustain a promotion push back to the Premier League.

After parting ways with their most saleable assets in Torbjorn Heggem and Tom Fellows, the club will be desperate to keep Isaac Price until the end of the season at a minimum, so getting someone like Dike off the books could be their next best option.

Of course, the question on everybody’s lips is what club would actually be brave enough to pay a fee for him given his simply atrocious injury record? And that’s something Albion will have to navigate through if they want to secure any cash for a sale.

It would seem that if any club wanted to move for Dike, it would be on a free transfer where there is little risk, while Dike does have the option to sign a pre-contract agreement with a non-English club in January.

It may seem a desperate move to claw back some cash, but the Baggies are going to end up losing £7m straight from their original investment, and with Dike unable to contribute to the team since returning, it would be a bonus to see a return of any note.

The best thing the club can do is to keep him fit up until the turn of the new year and see if any English clubs are interested in a gamble. Transfer windows can throw up some unexpected surprises, and the club may as well explore one last opportunity to see if they can add further financial resources into the pot as controlling shareholder Shilen Patel continues to guide the club through choppy waters.