West Bromwich Albion are enjoying a bout of scintillating form of late, and as such have little to worry about from the outside.
Carlos Corberan’s arrival has spurred on eight wins from nine Championship games and now has the Baggies just one point outside the playoff spots.
Therefore, it might have gone under the radar that Southampton had recently completed a move for Croatia international Mislav Orsic.
Whilst that may seem unrelated to their red-hot run of wins, it was not that long ago that Slaven Bilic was in pursuit of the wide man to add to his West Brom side.
In 2020 it was reported that contact had been made between the player and the club, with the Croatian manager even admitting his admiration for the forward.
However, as such, he remained at Dinamo Zagreb until his £8m move last week, where he finally made the step to the Premier League.
Would Orsic have kept WBA up in the 2020/21 season?
His blistering form over the last few years has been a constant reminder of what could have been at the Hawthorns, who have instead had to suffer the inconsistent performances of Matt Phillips and Grady Diangana.
Had they signed Orsic two years ago, they might not have stumbled to relegation that season at all, given that the 30-year-old would score 24 and assist a further nine that campaign, including a magnificent hat-trick to knock Tottenham Hotspur out of the Europa League.
The winger has been a consistent goal threat throughout his whole career admittedly, having scored 91 times and assisted 40 in just 214 games for his current club.
Compared with the 14 goals Diangana has mustered in his 120 appearances for West Brom, it is clear who the superior asset would be
Nathan Jones is in desperate need of something to reignite his side’s season, and is clearly happy with this as his first move as he told his press conference when quizzed about Orsic: “There are real talented players here who aren’t used to playing Premier League football and in the future, they could be world-class players.”
Whilst it still may not be enough to see the Saints avoid the drop, he might have been what Bilic needed to navigate his side from relegation which has plagued the club ever since.
