West Brom fell flat in £10m deal - they cut their losses after 12 months | OneFootball

Brown Ideye signed for West Brom for £10 million from Dynamo Kyiv in the summer of 2014

Brown Ideye signed for West Brom in the summer of 2014 for a hefty fee of around £10 million from Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv, yet the Nigerian never seemed to find his feet at the Hawthorns, in what was a disappointing turn of events.

Following the 2013/14 season, where West Brom narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League by finishing in 17th, then-manager Alan Irvine decided a big summer of recruitment lay ahead of the club.

In came the likes of Craig Gardner, Joleon Lescott and Georgios Samaras on free transfers, whilst Cristian Gamboa, Sebastian Blanco and Sebastien Pocognoli all arrived for fees.

However, their biggest outlay that window was the £10 million fee sent in the way of Dynamo Kyiv for Nigerian forward Ideye, who joined the Baggies on a three-year deal, with the club possessing the option to extend for a further year.

Ideye had scored 45 times and grabbed 12 assists in 107 games in the Ukrainian capital, and was heading to the Midlands to link up with West Brom and support Saido Berahino and compatriot Victor Anichebe up top.

Upon his arrival, then-manager Irvine said, "Brown is a quality striker and I'm looking forward to working with him.

"He's a strong, quick, powerful player who likes to get in behind defences and has plenty of Champions League and international experience."

West Brom had garnered a reputation for spending within their means, so the club record-breaking signing of Ideye was naturally met with a large degree of excitement from Baggies fans, but unfortunately for them and Ideye, it wasn't to be.

Brown Ideye struggled to find his feet for West Brom in the Premier League and would be sold at a loss the following year

Just days after his signing, Irvine made a brutal admission regarding the signing of Ideye, which would have been exactly what Baggies fans didn't want to hear about their club-record signing.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Irvine said, "I don't know much about Brown Ideye. I've not seen him live, but people we trust have done.

"It's not necessarily something that is detrimental to me not to have seen him live, though ideally I would like to because that's how I like to do my work."

Not the best admission to have made regarding your record signing, and almost unsurprisingly then, Ideye started slowly in West Brom colours.

He'd grab his first goal for the club against Hull City in the League Cup in September, but Baggies fans would have to wait until Boxing Day 2014 to see the Nigerian net in the league for them in a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City.

It seemed as though he had finally found his feet in the English top flight when he scored in back-to-back games in a 2-2 draw away to Burnley and then a 2-0 win at home to Swansea City, where he also managed to grab an assist.

However, he'd go the next three games without a goal contribution despite starting consistently, and he'd net his final goal for the club in a 1-0 home victory over Stoke City.

Ideye started just 13 times in the Premier League for West Brom in 24 appearances, the rest coming as a substitute, finishing his Baggies career with seven goals and two assists in 31 appearances across all competitions.

According to Capology, his £52,000-per-week salary cost West Brom roughly £2.7 million in wages across his contract, and was the joint-highest earner at the club alongside former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher at the time.

Ideye left in August 2015 for Greek side Olympiacos for around €6 million, nearly half of what the Baggies had paid for him initially just one year prior, in a deal they certainly lost on.

Brown Ideye played for 13 separate clubs in 10 different nations across his career before retiring in August 2025

Ideye has never spent more than two years at any club since leaving West Brom for Greece.

He moved to China with Tianjin Teda, Spain with Malaga, back to Greece with Aris, Turkey with Goztepe, Kuwait with Al-Yarmouk, before finishing his career back in his native Nigeria.

Ideye would announce his retirement from professional football in August 2025 via his X account, thanking all of the clubs that he has played for, including the Baggies.

Ideye's time at the Hawthorns will largely be remembered for more negative reasons than positive, and West Brom fans will always wonder what could have been if he had managed to settle in the Midlands.