During Tony Pulis’ time at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion supposedly missed a chance to sign Liverpool duo Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.
Since January, Liverpool have smashed the world record transfer fees for a centre-back and a goalkeeper.
They paid £75 million to bring in Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, a few months before making Brazil number one Alisson Becker the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the game for £67 million – at least until Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga.
And fans of West Bromwich Albion must be wondering what might have been. Because recent claims have suggested that both Alisson and Van Dijk could have been plying their trade at The Hawthorns before developing into truly world class footballers.
Former Baggies scout Jonathan Gould told the Scottish Sun last week that he had recommended Alisson to the then West Brom boss Tony Pulis after a staggering performance in the Europa League back in 2017.
And another one-time West Brom talent spotter says the Championship club were told to sign Van Dijk too during his formative years at Celtic.
“In my time at West Brom, I had to watch van Dijk 20 times. I knew after 20 minutes that he was good enough to play in the English Premier League,” Stuart Miller told The Sun.
“I recommended him to Tony Pulis and said, ‘We must sign him’. I put on the report, ‘If we sign Van Dijk we’ll double our money in two years’.
“Unfortunately West Brom didn’t pursue that, which was frustrating on my part and ultimately why I left West Brom — because I was certain I was recommending a player who was top notch.”
Pulis is far from the most popular figure at West Brom after playing a big part in their relegation last season. And failing to make a move for both Alisson and Van Dijk will not exactly enhance his reputation.
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