Steven Alzate admits he found a failed move to West Brom ‘difficult to accept’ before eventually leaving Premier League high-flyers Brighton and Hove Albion for Standard Liege, speaking to Het Nieuwsblad.
Alzate wasn’t the only one left disenchanted by that aborted deadline day deal either.
Steve Bruce, the increasingly under-fire Baggies boss, admits he felt ‘devastated, disappointed, angry and frustrated’ after seeing a last-ditch loan move for the stylish Colombia international collapse (almost literally) at the eleventh hour.
Tell us how you really feel, Steve.
At least, with the Belgian window remaining open until September 6th, Standard Liege could still swoop in to ensure that Alzate would not be spending the first few months of the campaign stuck on the Brighton bench.
Steven Alzate nearly joined West Bromwich Albion from Brighton on deadline day
“That was difficult to accept,” Alzate says, reflecting on the collapse of his West Brom move.
“I had to think about it for a while. But at a certain moment I thought; Standard, why not? The Belgian league is of a good, competitive level.
“I’m happy to be here and want to play as many games as possible. Standard should finish in the top eight because it is a historic club; one of the biggest clubs in Belgium.”
“I suspect that the fans and my team-mates expect a lot from me because I come from the Premier League.”
Alzate has played just once so far this season, against Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Cup. And West Brom, sitting just above the relegation zone with one win in 10, could have done with his guile and finesse in the middle of the park after a miserable start to Bruce’s first full campaign at the Hawthorns helm.
West Brom also missed out on Fulham misfit Josh Onomah on the final day of the window.
“It’s part of football,” former Brighton boss Graham Potter said at the time. “Unfortunately, sometimes these things happen on a deadline day. There was an option for (Alzate) but we weren’t kicking him out the door either. It could have gone either way.
“I think he was quite keen to do either (stay or go), to be honest. The opportunity to play regular football was something to be considered as well.”
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