Huddersfield Town’s Laurent Depoitre showing West Brom what they could have had

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West Brom’s assistant coach admitted Laurent Depoitre was a target in 2016, but the Porto striker moved to Huddersfield Town instead.

There is a reason West Bromwich Albion have been last in Match of the Day’s running order a fair few times since Tony Pulis took charge. After all, well drilled defensive organisation doesn’t exactly make for an exciting highlight reel.

Despite winning two of four Premier League games, The Baggies had scored just four goals prior to hosting West Ham at The Hawthorns. And they failed to add to that measly tally in the most 0-0 or 0-0 draws.

A lack of reliable goalscorers is certainly a concern. Salomon Rondon went 18 games without scoring last season, Hal Robson-Kanu has never been prolific while Jay Rodriguez, who was ineffective up front against The Hammers, is more useful in a wider role.

Therefore, it will not have pleased West Brom fans to see Laurent Depoitre, the Belgian international striker they had been linked with for some time, opening his Premier League account for Huddersfield Town in their 1-1 draw with Leicester City at the same time.

Depoitre, who joined Huddersfield from Porto this summer in a fee that cost a then-club-record £3.5 million according to the BBC, shrugged off a challenge before coolly slotting into the far corner.

To make his goal even more impressive, that was Depoitre’s second ever attempt on goal in the Premier League. Not a bad goals-to-shots ratio so far, then.

Back in March last year, West Brom assistant manager Dave Kemp admitted that the 28-year-old was on the club’s radar after they sent scouts to watch him on numerous occasions, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.

Now, you wonder whether his presence, power and well-taken finishing would have earned West Brom three important points on Saturday.