West Brom: £2.5m game-changer made deadline day headlines with failed exit

West Brom: £2.5m game-changer made deadline day headlines with failed exit

West Brom has historically been a tiny but powerful force in the season of transactions, scouting astute, low-budget recruits that have surpassed their price tags, despite the financial constraints that have chained the club in previous transfer windows.

Peter Odemwingie, a £2.5 million summer acquisition for West Brom in 2010, is one of the best examples of this success.

The Uzbek-born forward joined The Hawthorns at a critical juncture in the team’s history, when the newly promoted second-tier team was eager to establish themselves in the top division and establish themselves as one of its mainstays—something the team had not accomplished since the Black Country Baggies managed to stay in the division for two seasons in 2004.

To save a Premier League position, though, the team would have to score more than the pitiful 36 goals that saw them relegated to the second division as the 2008–09 season’s stragglers.

However, West Brom’s £2.50 million package included the remedy to that problem.

After scoring on his debut in the blue and white stripes, the Super Eagle striker went on to contribute 15 goals and nine assists, which helped the team coast to safety with plenty of time to spare and, as a bonus, earn their highest-ever Premier League finish at 11th for the season. Odemwingie also earned recognition for himself by placing sixth.

However, the team would need to score more than the meager 36 goals that saw them drop back to the second division as the 2008–09 season’s stragglers if they wanted to maintain a Premier League spot.

But the solution to that issue was contained in the £2.50 million package that West Brom paid to Lokomotiv Moscow.

After scoring on his debut in the blue and white stripes, the Super Eagle striker went on to contribute 15 goals and nine assists, which helped the team coast to safety with plenty of time to spare and, as a bonus, earn their highest-ever Premier League finish at 11th for the season. Odemwingie also earned recognition for himself by placing sixth.

With the support of the entire Hawthorns, Odemwingie swiftly rose to prominence as a fan favorite. This helped the Baggies remain patient when the Nigerian’s stats somewhat declined the next season.

Three of the forward’s goals came in Albion’s historic 5-1 thumping of bitter Black Country rivals Wolves, a moment that will live on in Albion memories forever. Despite the forward’s slight slump in 2011–12, when he only managed to score 11 goals and dish out four assists in a blue and white shirt, supporters swiftly forgiven the decline in form.

The Baggies were bouncing as the team improved on their previously mentioned 11th-place performance, breaking the top half of the table in 10th, and Odemwingie solidified his status as the team’s bright spot and a modern-day hero. But all of that would alter in the course of a now-famous night.

West Brom’s 2012–13 season began rapidly, demonstrating that the team had little desire to return to competition in order to maintain their position in the division.

On the first day, the Hawthorns hosted Liverpool, but the Baggies, led by recently hired manager Steve Clarke, swiftly impressed the Scotsman’s old team, defeating them 3-0.

After a goal against the Reds on the first day, Odemwingie attempted to continue as Albion’s most dangerous attacking threat, but Romelu Lukaku, the Baggies’ Belgian summer acquisition, stole the show instead of the Super Eagle.

The 19-year-old was temporarily signed by West Brom from Chelsea, and possibly even more quickly than Odemwingie, Lukaku attracted attention from everyone in the vicinity of The Hawthorns when he scored against Liverpool after making a brief appearance.

Following this brief stint, the Belgian’s physicality and fiery potency in front of goal became essential to Clarke and his style of play, swiftly taking Odemwingie’s place as the Scotsman’s go-to option when it came to scoring goals.

Finding the net just four times before the season began in January, the Super Eagle’s tenure as the month’s favorite had come to an end. Odemwingie was unhappy with his limited playing time, and this season’s stragglers, QPR, had heard of his discontent, which sparked the most notorious transfer ever to be finalized.

Many were shocked that Odemwingie was still with West Brom as the January transfer window came to a close, but Clarke was hesitant to let the striker go after he set Albion’s record for most goals scored in the Premier League.

Odemwingie, however, was adamant about leaving The Hawthorns and was furious when QPR’s £2 million offer was insufficient to persuade the Baggies to make a move after they had already turned down the Nigerian’s transfer request.

In yet another attempt to compel a move, Odemwingie resorted to social media to lament his abuse by the Baggies, an unusual occurrence during his playing days.

Odemwingie tweeted: “I can understand the reaction of a few Albion fans on my desire to leave the club,” according to The Mirror. True cause? because they once questioned my dedication.”

The flaming dispute appeared to have subsided as the window drew to a close, with Odemwingie remaining a West Brom player on deadline day, and his reputation as a fan favorite dissolved with each keystroke.

But the troubled striker for West Brom has a long way to go in his escape strategy.

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