West Brom look the winners from 2018 deal with Leeds United: View | OneFootball

Five years ago, Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion were two of the sides expected to challenge at the top end of the Championship under the respective management of Marcelo Bielsa and Darren Moore.

Albion had recently been relegated from the Premier League, ending their uninterrupted eight-year stint in the top flight, whilst Leeds, under 'El Loco's' guidance, were looking to end their long hiatus from the elite of English football.

Both sides were defeated in the play-offs that season, before also being inseparable in the following campaign as they finished in first and second throughout the lengthy 2019/20.

One man who has strong links to both outfits is the current Birmingham City forward Tyler Roberts. However, it's fair to say that West Brom will feel they made the right call to sell the Welsh international to the Elland Road side.

Roberts made just one senior appearance for the Baggies during the infancy of his career, but signed a four-year deal with Leeds back in 2018 for an estimated £2.5m fee.

Throughout his time in West Yorkshire, Roberts made 108 appearances, with 50 coming in the Championship and 51 in the Premier League.

Despite this respectable figure for someone in search of a big break in his career, Roberts was never really convincing regarding his overall output for the club, as he only registered 19 goal contributions across his four-year spell with Leeds.

He also made his senior debut for Wales just weeks after joining Bielsa's side, but in 20 appearances, is yet to score for the Dragons.

During his time at Leeds, Roberts did sustain a handful of injuries, as well as finding himself further down the pecking order after promotion to the Premier League, when then club-record signing Rodrigo joined from Valencia.

After sustaining an injury in Jesse Marsch's first game in charge of the club - a 1-0 defeat to Leicester in March 2022 - Roberts would miss the remainder of the season before being sent out on loan to QPR in the Championship in the summer.

It seemed that under the management of Michael Beale, Roberts would be able to sustain a strong run of performances as Rangers began the season in great fashion, before their well-documented collapse which nearly ended in relegation. The 24-year-old only made 20 appearances and scored four times, suffering two injuries with one affecting his chance to represent Wales at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

How can Tyler Roberts have an impact at Birmingham City?

It looked like this summer, Roberts had made the right call in an attempt to resurrect his career, even at a somewhat early stage, as he joined a new-look Birmingham City this summer following the club's takeover by Tom Wagner.

Roberts was one of twelve new additions at St Andrew's, but is yet to really show the fans his true capabilities, as well as the man who signed him, as John Eustace was dismissed on October 6th in place of Wayne Rooney, who is winless from his first five games in charge of the Blues.

However, the Gloucester-born forward has only played 61 competitive minutes in Royal Blue, before suffering a calf problem ahead of the club's 1-0 win against his former employers.

There's no doubting that when fit, Roberts is a player capable of producing moments of magic at this level, but we are yet to see it on a consistent basis. Being coached by someone of Rooney's calibre could prove to be an ultimate blessing for Roberts though, as he has the tough challenge of displacing the promising Jay Stansfield upon his return to fitness.