"Missed that steel" - Claim made on Okay Yokuslu void at West Brom | OneFootball

FLW has been speaking with our Albion fan pundit to discuss whether the Baggies are missing Yokuslu...

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion sold central midfielder Okay Yokuslu to Turkish Süper Lig side Trabzonspor this summer, bringing an end to his two-year spell at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies netted a reported fee of €1.6m euros (around £1.35m) for the Turkish international, a deal which saw the 30-year-old return to his homeland - something he was understood to have been very keen on.

It presented as a significant blow to Carlos Corberan's side, as after spending the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan with the club, the industrious midfielder had established himself as an integral member of Albion's squad since his permanent arrival back in July 2022.

So, have West Brom been missing Yokuslu? Or has the form of Alex Mowatt and the presence of Jayson Molumby and Uros Racic helped soften the blow? Football League World investigates...

West Brom fan pundit: "The one we perhaps miss the most"

It's still perhaps too early to confidently say whether the Baggies made the right decision letting Yokuslu leave this summer, but we asked our West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, 'do you think Albion miss Yokuslu or not?'

Burgess said: "I think that out of the three major departures in the summer, the likes of Yokuslu, Asante and Townsend, who left the club with a year left on their contracts, I think Yokuslu would be the one that we perhaps miss the most.

"That midfield spot he had last season has been swapped around with Racic and Molumby so far. Molumby's been OK. Obviously, Mowatt has been the star of Albion's midfield so far this season.

"So, whilst we have that creative aspect where Mowatt's able to keep things ticking, we have sort of missed that steel that you get from having Yokuslu in the team.

"For example, Molumby does get out of position sometimes, wanting to burst forward. He does sometimes have that head loss a bit, whereas Yokuslu kind of had that overall quality, which means that Albion were able to control games a bit better last season. You could argue.

"I think Albion fans, if you were to ask them if they'd rather have Yokuslu in this team or not, I think 99% of them would say that they'd take Yokuslu back."

Yokuslu did a bit of everything, and was a huge part of Albion's identity on the pitch

Perhaps one of the more underrated central midfielders during his time in the Championship, Yokuslu was the heart and soul of Albion's midfield over the last two seasons.

The Turk cut an imposing figure in the middle of the park, and his opposite number knew they were going to have to battle for the full 90 minutes in order to get the better of him.

Indeed, his 81 aerial duels won last season were only bettered by 2.3% of his positional peers in the Championship last term, whilst his 48 interceptions ranked him in the top 90.9 percentile of second tier players in his position in 2023/24 - per FotMob.

For a predominantly defensive-minded midfield player, Yokuslu was surprisingly effective and important to West Brom's attacking approach. He won possession in the final third for Albion 20 times last season, whilst also registering 32 shots on goal, scoring one and proving an assist - per FotMob.

In the 2022/23 season, he bagged four goals in 38 league appearances, which, combined with his aforementioned all-round ability to contribute in every phase of the game, made him a real handful for opposing teams.

So, whilst Mowatt continues to shine this season, playing arguably his best football in a Baggies shirt through the opening stages of the campaign, it's hard not to imagine just how dominant Albion's midfield could be if those two kept their pairing together this year.