Leeds United stole a goal-machine from West Brom - the Baggies missed out big time | OneFootball

Chris Wood joined West Brom from his native New Zealand in the summer of 2008, though he failed to make a notable impact at the Hawthorns.

New Zealand's record men's goalscorer Chris Wood has spent his entire professional career in English football, yet many will forget that it was with West Brom where he first laced his boots in the British Isles.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Wood bucked the trend as a teenager by deciding to pursue football as opposed to the much more popular Rugby Union that the country has become so famous for.

Having earned a trial with West Brom at 18-years-old, Wood was prolific in the club's youth system and earned himself a contract with the Baggies in what was his first major step into professional football.

Wood would spend four-and-a-half years contracted to West Brom, but never truly nailed down a starting berth at the Hawthorns, playing just 27 times in all competitions, scoring three goals and assisting a further six.

He would spend time out on loan with numerous EFL clubs, such as Barnsley, Brighton, Birmingham City, Bristol City and Millwall before his permanent switch to Leicester City in January 2013 for around £1 million, where he would spend the next two-and-a-half-years in and out of the side.

Leeds United came calling in the summer of 2015, signing the New Zealand international on a permanent basis, and Wood would burst into life in Yorkshire.

Leeds United profited big time from West Brom's Chris Wood decision

Still only 23-year-old, Wood was something of an experienced head within EFL football, having played for numerous clubs in both League One and the Championship, with Leeds paying a fee of around £3 million for his services from Leicester, their most expensive signing since Nick Barmby in 2002.

In his first season at Elland Road, Wood was handed the number 9 shirt and announced himself as a key figure in the Leeds attack, scoring 13 goals and assisting four in 36 Championship appearances.

The following season was even better, and remains Wood's most prolific season as a professional footballer to date.

Wood scored 27 times and grabbed four assists in 44 Championship games, ending the season at the second tier's top scorer, which began to draw interest from clubs in the Premier League, with Leeds remaining in the Championship. Leeds, despite Wood's goalscoring heroics, could only finish seventh in the division that year, five points shy of sixth-placed Fulham, which meant that they were susceptible to losing the talisman come the summer.

Burnley came calling, with the Clarets parting ways with a club-record £15 million to secure the signing of Wood, who would finally earn a proper chance in the Premier League.

Leeds profited five times the amount that they had paid for Wood from Leicester just two years earlier, as no doubt West Brom fans covered their eyes in horror over the decision to let the New Zealand international leave for next to nothing.

Chris Wood has since established himself as a proven Premier League striker

Wood has since gone on to become a household name in the English top flight, having spent the last nine seasons playing in the Premier League for the likes of Burnley, Newcastle United and now Nottingham Forest.

Last season, in particular, Wood had the season of his life, scoring 20 times and assisting a further three in 36 Premier League games, helping Forest to secure a place in the 2025/26 Europa League.

The New Zealand record goalscorer has now played more games in the top flight (267) than he has in the second tier (223), with Wood unlikely to drop a division anytime soon, this record is likely to remain intact.

With over 175 goals and nearly 50 assists in over 500 games across England's top three tiers, West Brom will forever rue the day that they let Wood leave.

It is, of course, a classic case of the beauty of hindsight, and had many at the Hawthorns been able to envisage how clinical Wood would become, then he surely would not have been sold. However, their loss was very much the gain of Leeds, and later both Burnley and Forest at the highest level.