Forget Lorent Tolaj: Port Vale & Darren Moore have struck West Brom transfer gold | OneFootball

Devante Cole has started life at Port Vale brilliantly, with a couple of goals in his first two games

Losing Lorent Tolaj late on in the summer transfer window was a huge blow for Darren Moore and Port Vale, especially given the way the Valiants started the season.

Port Vale were within the top six in League One for chance creation, but they weren't taking them, and ended August with no wins and two goals in six League One games.

Ultimately, it was a case of being patient and waiting for the goals to come, and ensuring that their exciting 23-year-old frontman, who bagged 14 along with eight assists in League Two last season, stayed was an absolute must.

Therefore, when Plymouth Argyle activated the £1.2 million release clause in Tolaj's contract just nine days before the transfer deadline, Vale were in desperate need of a replacement and, as first revealed exclusively by Football League World, took a chance on Devante Cole on deadline day, who had been released by West Bromwich Albion earlier that day.

After an awful year at the Hawthornes, bringing Cole in was a huge risk, but it's one that, albeit through two games, has paid off massively, with the goal tally tripled and a win finally on the board.

Devante Cole has rediscovered his goalscoring touch at Port Vale

Cole's previous goalscoring ventures in League One at Barnsley had earned him a well-deserved chance to crack the Championship once more, but his season at West Brom went down as nothing short of a disaster.

Arriving off the back of scoring 33 goals over two seasons at Oakwell, two seasons where the Tykes finished inside the play-offs, Cole couldn't get going at West Brom, and fell down the pecking order in a striker position which was well-saturated already.

None of his 14 Championship appearances were starts, and he was left on the bench 19 times. He also failed to make an appearance in the final 16 games of last season, and that unwanted run continued into the current term, being left on the bench in all four of the league games he was at the club for, before his release on deadline day.

Port Vale picked the 30-year-old up, and he is already showing signs of his Barnsley past, scoring in each of his first two games for the club, the latter away at Exeter City, which helped Darren Moore's side get that much-needed first win back in League One.

There were understandable concerns when Tolaj departed for Plymouth, but if Cole could continue his form in front of goal and return to the 18-goal striker he was the last time he played in League One, then Vale fans' worries about a substantial striker replacement will be quickly calmed.

Port Vale hitting the front foot after signing Devante Cole

It was a frustrating opening month to the League One campaign for Port Vale, whose performances most definitely warranted more than two goals and two points in their opening six games.

However, things are starting to click in September. Even if they did come out on the losing end against Leyton Orient to begin the month, the couple of goals they scored then, added to the two last weekend, means that their goalscoring tally has already doubled from the first month to the second.

And you get the feeling that a win away at Exeter will start to see an upturn in results that, ultimately, the performances deserve.

Vale were wasteful throughout the opening month of the season, but it seems that the arrival of Cole has seen something switch in front of goal, and there is a big sense of hope around Vale Park that the side under Darren Moore may be an exciting one to keep an eye on in the coming months.

Tolaj, for what it's worth, has made a strong starting impression at Plymouth by scoring three goals from his first six games. That sort of form won't surprise anybody of a Vale persuasion, of course, but Moore's side are ensuring that his void is being filled by Cole as he continues his strong start to life under the ex-Baggies boss.