West Bromwich Albion were heavily linked with Newcastle United’s Dwight Gayle.
West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic says his side tried to sign Newcastle United’s Dwight Gayle and the failure to do so had no impact on the addition of Charlie Austin, Birmingham Mail report.
“We tried, I’m not going to lie. Of course he made such a big impact. We needed a few strikers – that has nothing to do with Charlie Austin. We tried with Dwight, but it just didn’t happen. It was really difficult and that’s it basically,” Bilic explained.
“He was interested, of course. He enjoyed it here, but it was very difficult and just didn’t happen.”
Gayle spent last season on loan at West Brom and was a huge hit with the club’s supporters. The striker netted 23 Championship goals – equalling his goals tally during Newcastle’s promotion season in 2016-17.
The Baggies opened their Championship campaign with a 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest. Slaven Bilic’s side were impressive, but they appeared to lack a genuine goal scorer likely to net 15+ goals this term.
The departures of Gayle and Jay Rodriguez have left a void to fill at the Hawthorns. Re-signing Gayle would have been one of West Brom’s priorities, and Bilic suggests his arrival wouldn’t have affected the Austin deal.
Austin arrived on deadline day for a reported £4 million. The former Queens Park Rangers man is a natural goal scorer, netting over 200 goals throughout his career including 18 in the 2014-15 Premier League campaign.
West Brom will look to partner him alongside Kenneth Zohore up front. Bilic may have to adapt his formation to fit them in, and it would arguably have been an even bigger challenge had Gayle also been signed.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
