Earlier this year, Newcastle and Leeds both expressed an interest in bringing Daryl Dike to the Premier League.
The United States international had put his name up in lights in English football with a stunning loan spell at Barnsley, where he scored nine goals in 19 Championship appearances to fire them into the play-offs.
Newcastle and Leeds eventually missed out on Dike as he decided to reunite with Valérien Ismaël at West Brom, joining the Baggies from Orlando City in a deal worth £7m.
Now, the Magpies and the Whites are presumably glad they failed to sign the American.
What’s the story?
Well, Dike – who has been compared to Romelu Lukaku – has struggled since moving to England on a permanent basis.
The 22-year-old has only managed to make three appearances for West Brom as his body experiences difficulties in adapting to English football. Above all, he has faced hamstring and thigh problems.
So far this season, Dike has only played 12 minutes in the Championship, and to make matters worse, he was forced to watch helplessly as the Baggies replaced his pal Ismaël with Steve Bruce.
With the West Brom No.12 failing to replicate his Barnsley heroics at the Hawthorns, we doubt he would have made much of an impact at Newcastle or Leeds.
Newcastle & Leeds have moved on
In our view, Dike has missed the boat when it comes to a move to the Premier League – for now at least.
Newcastle have since signed Alexander Isak in a club-record £63m deal, while Leeds have secured Brenden Aaronson and given Joe Gelhardt an increased role as well.
Dike was a hot property after starring for Barnsley, although he will need to find some fire in his belly to resurrect his career in England and put himself back on the radar of Premier League clubs.
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