West Brom must still regret £10m decision – It was a nightmare | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion will always regret the £10 million signing of striker Brown Ideye from Dynamo Kyiv.

West Bromwich Albion were a Premier League stalwart through much of the 2010s and the Baggies made some shrewd signings, but one that they will always regret will be the purchase of Brown Ideye from Dynamo Kyiv.

In the summer of 2014, West Brom were looking to kick on in the Premier League after a woeful 2013/14 campaign in which they narrowly escaped relegation, finishing 17th with just seven victories in their 38 matches.

The appointment of Alan Irvine, replacing Pepe Mel, was expected to see them return to being a hard-working outfit that could again punch above their weight and try to get towards the top-half of the table once again.

As a part of that plan, the Baggies experienced an extremely busy summer transfer window 11 new signings brought into The Hawthorns.

Craig Gardner, Joleon Lescott and Chris Baird arrived on free transfers from Sunderland, Manchester City and Burnley respectively, before the signings of full-backs Sebastien Pocognoli and Andre Wisdom.

Early August saw the arrivals of Australia international Jason Davidson from Heracles Almelo and Costa Rica right-back Cristian Gamboa from Rosenborg; both of whom had made a slight name for themselves with performances at that summer’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

They rounded off the summer with a few more surprising signings as Giorgos Samaras arrived before Silvestre Varela and Sebastian Blanco were brought in before the close of the window.

In the middle of that spree, though, as Albion overhauled their squad, they searched for a crowning jewel to be the fulcrum in attack of the new look West Brom – and they went big to bring in what they wanted with club-record signing Brown Ideye from Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv; however, it turned out to be a deal that was a microcosm of the haphazard and poor business they had done all summer.

Brown Ideye flopped at West Brom

Having begun his career in Nigeria with Bayelsa United and then Ocean Boys, Brown Ideye moved to Europe in 2007, joining Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax and then eventually earning a move to Sochaux.

After an excellent season in the 2010/11 Ligue 1 campaign, whereby Ideye notched 15 goals, Ukrainians Dynamo Kyiv brought him in and he enjoyed a couple of impressive seasons, albeit without any silverware to show for it.

An injury-hit final season saw him make just 19 appearances in the Ukrainian Premier League, scoring five goals, but West Brom still decided to spend significantly on the then 26-year-old, opting to spend a club record fee of £10 million on the Nigeria international.

It was an extremely tough start for West Brom and for Ideye, with the Baggies languishing down at the bottom end of the table and Ideye often struggling to make the squad.

Having scored his first goal on Boxing Day in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, he finished the season with just four goals in 24 Premier League appearances, having produced a reasonable run of form in February, which included a brace against West Ham United in a 4-0 victory at The Hawthorns in the fifth round of the FA Cup

Tony Pulis had replaced Alan Irvine on New Year’s Day as West Brom tried to pull themselves clear of another relegation battle, and Ideye was provided with more playing time, but it never appeared as though it would last.

Brown Ideye soon left West Brom and became a journeyman

The emergence of Saido Berahino in the 2014/15 season had certainly stunted Ideye’s involvement in West Bromwich, with Berahino scoring 20 goals across all competitions after having made his debut the previous season.

In the summer of 2015, Pulis made it clear what he wanted up-front and was able to bring in target man Rickie Lambert from Liverpool, as well as target man Salomon Rondon from Zenit Saint-Petersburg, for another club-record fee of £12 million.

The writing was on the wall for Ideye at that stage and having been an unused substitute in two and left out of the other two squads in their opening four games of the campaign, he managed to get a departure on the final day of the summer transfer window, leaving for Olympiacos.

That summer had also seen the departures of Baird, Davidson, Samaras and Lescott, with loans for Wisdom and Varela also ending, meaning that just four of that aforementioned 11 summer 2014 additions remained.

The recruitment of West Brom that summer had been very poor, and the signing of Brown Ideye for a club-record deal was indicative of a club striving to become something they were not, and doing it badly.

The injury-hit season in Ukraine should have been a warning for West Brom because, despite a reasonably impressive stint in Greece with Olympiacos, Ideye faded into obscurity and became a journeyman with moves to Tianjin Teda, Malaga, Aris Thessaloniki, Goztepe, Al Yarmouk and then Enyimba, retiring in the summer of 2025.