West Brom spent two years watching 2012 signing - he only played 3 times in big Baggies mystery | OneFootball

Things didn't quite go as planned for Yassine El Ghanassy at West Bromwich Albion.

West Bromwich Albion secured their best finish of the Premier League era in the 2012/13 campaign, with shrewd summer business propelling Steve Clarke's side up the top-flight table.

The Baggies were flying under now-Scotland manager Steve Clarke, with the goals of Romelu Lukaku firing the club to an eighth-place finish.

It was the culmination of a productive transfer window, with the likes of Lukaku arriving on loan from Chelsea in the summer of 2012, and he wasn't the only Belgian to make the switch to the Black Country that summer.

Highly-rated young winger Yassine El Ghanassy also joined the club on a season-long loan from Gent, with the 22-year-old being someone that Albion had kept an eye on for two years before the move.

However, things would not go as planned for the youngster in the Midlands.

West Brom finally landed Belgian winger Yassine El Ghanassy - they had watched him for two years

Before his move, El Ghanassy had scored five and assisted five as Gent would go on to finish third in the 2011/12 Jupiler Pro League. This came after a six-goal and ten-assist tally the season prior.

Albion's sporting and technical director at the time, Dan Ashworth, revealed that the club had been keeping tabs on the winger for two years before his Premier League move.

"Yassine is a player we have watched develop for a couple of years. He has shown in Belgium his ability to put defenders on the back foot and create and score goals, and he is on the fringes of the national team."

Though the Belgian-Moroccan winger would make just two appearances for the Red Devils, with his downturn in form coinciding with the development of Belgium's golden generation, with the likes of Eden and Thorgan Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and more developing at a rate of knots during the same time period.

The Baggies entered the 2012/13 campaign off the back of a 10th-place finish the year prior, and looked to bring in fresh blood to progress further. El Ghanassy, though, would not provide this as expected.

El Ghanassy's time at West Brom didn't go as planned - they didn't need him

The winger's time at West Brom would turn out to be incredibly forgettable. El Ghanassy would not make a single Premier League appearance for the Baggies during his period at the Hawthorns and would only make the bench five times.

His total of appearances for the club in general would reach just three across cup competitions, with his one goal coming in a 4-2 League Cup victory against Yeovil.

The original deal to bring him to the Midlands contained a purchase option, though the Baggies would come nowhere close to activating this, as El Ghanassy's loan spell was cut short in January, before he joined Dutch Eredivisie outfit Heerenveen.

West Brom themselves would embark on a sensational journey throughout the campaign.

Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku would announce himself to English football after coming through the academy setup at Anderlecht. The Belgian's brilliance would see him notch up a tally of 17 goals by the end of the campaign, while his compatriot was unable to make a mark at the club.

Albion secured one of the more memorable results in Premier League history when they played out a 5-5 draw in Sir Alex Ferguson's final match as Manchester United manager. Steve Clarke's side would finish eighth - their best finish of the Premier League era with a record 49 points.

El Ghanassy would go on to bounce between leagues in Europe, never really finding a consistent place in any side, before his career came to an end, playing for Zakynthos in Greece in 2022.