West Brom’s £25k-per-week flop is a far bigger waste of money than Price
Ryan Mason would have been cursing his luck as West Bromwich Albion manager as the Baggies succumbed to their tenth defeat of the Championship already, away at Hull City.
On another day, though, Mason’s men would have been travelling back to the Hawthorns with a rare away win in their back pocket, with 13 shots registered on the Tigers’ goal, next to the hosts’ ten efforts.
Depressingly for the under-fire manager, a contentious Oli McBurnie penalty would end up being the difference maker, with Isaac Price guilty of yet another wasteful performance as he continues to frustrate the restless West Brom faithful.
Price's drop-off at West Brom
After sealing a £2.5m move to England from Standard Liege, Price’s early form in the West Midlands showed off a midfield talent full to the brim with confidence.
Indeed, the Northern Ireland international would bag a sumptuous strike against Hull, no less, last season to get his goalscoring numbers up and running for the Baggies, with his confident displays resulting in then West Brom boss Tony Mowbray heralding him as a “very talented boy”.
He showed off the very best of his ability during Mason’s early tenure, too, with five goals and three assists collected earlier this season, seeing him tipped for a move back up to the Premier League, having once been on the books of Everton as a youngster.
However, in the here and now, he will be lucky to remain in his under-pressure manager’s first team plans, with the £2.5m splashed out on his services looking more steep by the game, based on his careless displays of late.
Across his last 11 second-tier games, Price has just one meagre assist to shout about, with a glorious missed chance against Hull from point blank range resulting in Sky Sports pundit Pete Graves hammering the out-of-form attacker for “somehow” squandering the opportunity.
Still, he has enough credit in the bank to justify that lavish price tag. Sadly, another big capture doesn’t.
West Brom have a bigger waste of money than Price
A large portion of West Brom’s highest earners could be moved on at the end of the season, with Jed Wallace taking home a high £25k-per-week salary, despite only starting four Championship games under Mason’s tenure. With his contract set to expire next summer, he will know he’s on shaky ground regarding his long-term Baggies future.
Daryl Dike is on an even more uneven footing, with the American attacker amazingly taking home the exact same pay packet, despite last starting for the second-tier outfit back in May, when bagging a rare goal in West Brom blue and white versus Luton Town.
When West Brom forked out a high £7m on Dike’s services in January of 2022, they would have been hoping that the ex-Orlando City striker’s goalscoring exploits would catapult the Baggies back up to the Premier League.
Instead, despite occasionally showing off flashes of his instinctive best in front of goal with nine strikes from 48 games, the overriding emotion involving the bumper deal right now will be one of immense regret, with the 6-foot-2 centre-forward horribly unlucky with injuries at the Hawthorns.
Dike’s overall West Brom numbers
Stat
Dike
Games played
48
Goals scored
9
Assists
2
Games out with injury
148 games
Days missed through injury
930 days
Transfer cost
£7m
Wage cost per week
£25k-per-week
Wage cost per year
£1.3m
Contract expiry date
June 2026
Sourced by Transfermarkt
The table above really illuminates how many injury crises Dike has suffered from at West Brom, with the 25-year-old no doubt battered and bruised by the whole ordeal, having now missed a staggering 148 games through injury, five seasons down in the West Midlands.
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The £7m originally forked out on his services now looks like money rashly spent, with his further wage costs seeing West Brom drop £1.3m on his salary yearly, only adding to their agony.
It looks likely that West Brom will pull the plug on Dike’s doomed stay come next June, when his contract expires, with the deal, ultimately, going down as a huge waste of money, even if he has shown off his goalscoring prowess when rarely fit.
Price won’t be dismissed just yet in the same category, with the 22-year-old still very much learning the ropes of the Championship as a purchase that should bear more fruit in the future.
Whereas, for his own sake, Dike must now be let go of, with Mason only utilising him sporadically for 15 minutes of league action this season, owing to yet more injury difficulties.
0 duels won: Mason must drop West Brom flop who was worse than Gilchrist
West Bromwich Albion suffered another away defeat in the Championship this season at Hull City in controversial circumstances.
4 ByKelan Sarson