What can be learned and improved upon from the 2010 window?
Utilise the lower leagues
During the summer of 2010 West Brom only made one signing from the lower leagues of English football, and that signing turned out to be a successful one in Craig Dawson who played an important part in Albion’s most recent Premier League years.
Signing players from divisions below the Premier League has proven to be an effective style of recruitment in previous seasons, especially for teams with restrictive budgets.
Albion have a strong background in regards to this style of recruitment, last summer Semi Ajayi joined from League One side Rotherham United whilst Romaine Sawyers and Darnell Furlong arrived from teams who historically finish in lower positions than the Baggies. Connor Townsend signed from League One side Scunthorpe United too.
The likes of Billy Jones, Gareth McAuley and Shane Long also played in the lower leagues before becoming astute signings for Albion.
We have seen the likes of Ollie Watkins, Eberechi Eze and Bright Osayi-Samuel linked with West Brom so far this summer, and while Eze and Watkins might be too costly, Osayi-Samuel fits the bill as an exciting and affordable player with tons of potential.
Recognise resale values
Aside from broadcasting and match-day revenue, a mainstream source of income for clubs is player sales. One way to judge if a player will be of great value in the future is by determining a resale value for the individual.
A number of factors come into play when designating a resale value for a player, these include: the players age, the potential that the player possesses, reputation and even aspects such as nationality come into play as we’ve seen the premium paid for English players in the past.
In the summer of 2010, it’s evident that resale value didn’t come into play when deciding which players to bring in. This summer it is something the club will look at and rightly so.
The average age of the players brought into the club ten years ago was 27.4.
A player is usually in their peak around their late 20’s, therefore you can see these players were brought in to make an instant impact as opposed to developing them and then selling on at a later date.
Albion only recouped seven figure fees for two of the signings that summer, however they did make good money on one long term investment with Craig Dawson serving the Baggies for eight years before signing for Watford which raised a profit of around £5m.
The Dawson signing should be enough evidence for Albion to invest in long-term projects this summer, especially as we now have the platform of the Premier League to allow players to demonstrate their talents on the big stage.
Antonee Robinson and Siriki Dembele are players that have been linked to West Brom that have potential to bring in big transfer fees in the future.
WBA Report 