West Brom must rue £15m transfer mistake along with these 4 others | OneFootball

FLW highlights five signings West Brom have regretted over the years.

Despite competing towards the top levels of English football, West Brom have regretted a number of transfer decisions they’ve made over the years.

The Baggies have competed in the Premier League or the top end of the Championship over the last 20 years, building competitive squads to help deliver success at The Hawthorns.

The latest challenge for Albion is with Tony Mowbray, as the 61-year-old looks to earn a second promotion back to the top-flight with the Black Country outfit.

West Brom have had to deal with challenging financial difficulties in recent transfer windows, making it a tougher task to identify promising talent to help boost their promotion hopes.

As controlling shareholder Shilen Patel and Sporting Director Andrew Nestor continue to follow through with their ideas for the club, they will be hoping none of these types of deal will be replicated from the past.

Football League World lists five signings West Brom have come to rue in their history.

Oliver Burke

First up is winger Oliver Burke, who was Guochuan Lai's first marquee signing as owner.

High expectations surrounded the Scottish international when he made his £15 million switch from RB Leipzig in 2017. Known for his blistering pace and physical prowess, Burke struggled to replicate the potential he had shown with Nottingham Forest.

In his debut season, Burke failed to establish himself as a first team regular as Albion were relegated to the Championship for the first time since 2010. Many had hoped he'd shine in the second tier, but he went on to make just five more league appearances before having loan spells away at Celtic and Alaves.

Burke would eventually depart The Hawthorns for Sheffield United in a swap deal with Callum Robinson, recording just four goal contributions in 24 appearances.

Georgios Samaras

Georgios Samaras arrived in the Black Country from Scottish giants Celtic back in the summer of 2014 under Alan Irvine.

The Greek international was backed to continue his consistent run of form in Scotland, but it never materialised, with the 29-year-old failing to stake a regular spot in the starting lineup under Irvine and his replacement, Tony Pulis.

Samaras was unable to make a single start for the club, with all of his appearances arriving off the substitutes' bench before he made a hasty exit in February 2015 to join Al-Hilal on loan, before terminating his contract in the summer of that year.

This was certainly a disastrous signing that West Brom won’t look back fond of.

Zhang Yuning

Zhang Yuning was a very puzzling signing for West Brom, with this acquisition largely down to former Chinese owner Guochuan Lai.

The Chinese striker arrived at West Brom in 2017 for a reported £6 million fee, with the deal believed to have been entirely financed by Lai.

That somewhat spared the club from wasting crucial financial resources as the 22-year-old went on to never make a single appearance for the Baggies and not even feature in a matchday squad, which made this arrival a bewildering one.

While Zhang eventually returned to China and enjoyed a fruitful spell at Beijing Guoan, his short and dismal spell in England has to be one of West Brom’s strangest ever signings.

Nicolas Anelka

A player of such impressive pedigree at the top of the game, Nicolas Anelka’s arrival to West Brom generated much excitement and anticipation among the Albion faithful, but his stint in blue and white turned out to be disastrous.

The former World Cup and Champions League winner would net just two goals in 12 appearances, with a large portion of his spell marred by his controversial "quenelle" gesture celebration against West Ham, which led to a five-match ban and a sizeable fine.

Tarnishing the club’s image, Anelka swiftly departed via the termination of his contract, with such behaviour causing unwanted disruption in the dressing room.

Kenneth Zohore

Rounding off the list is Danish forward Kenneth Zohore, who moved to The Hawthorns from Cardiff City in an eyebrow-raising £8 million deal.

Ranking as one of Albion’s worst-ever signings, the Baggies got very little out of such a significant investment at Championship level, with the frontman struggling to maintain any form, consistency or fitness in a woeful time at the club.

In three seasons with Albion, the 31-year-old only mustered five goals from 23 appearances, failing to be the expected physical presence up front.