Manager was surprised to sign Arsenal loanee; thought he had too much ‘quality’

Follow us on Google Discover

West Bromwich Albion boss Sam Allardyce admits he was surprised to land Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season, as he told the Birmingham Mail.

It seems that Allardyce knows how Slaven Bilic felt.

According to the Mail, Bilic was left frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations as West Brom laboured over bringing new players to The Hawthorns during the summer window, only signing £16 million striker Karlan Grant on deadline day after months of speculation.

By that point, the Baggies were already four games into the season.

Although Allardyce was pleased to see some of his top targets arrive in January, he, like Bilic, wanted things done a little quicker.

“What would I have liked to have done better? Obviously get (the new players) in on January 2 and January 3 and that might have made a difference to the games we lost,” Allardyce admitted.

Better late than never, perhaps.

Maitland-Niles, Robert Snodgrass and Mbaye Diagne have all made a positive impact since arriving last month; the latter scoring in a hard-earned 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

Okay Yokuslu, meanwhile, should add some steel to a soft-bellied midfield when the Celta Vigo loanee gets up to speed.

“We got four very good players on a limited budget of a greater quality than I thought we would achieve,” Allardyce added.

“I didn’t think we’d get Ainsley coming from Arsenal and wanting to join the battle, Robert Snodgrass with what we were missing — bundles of Premier League experience — and then a quality forward, 6ft 4in, who has the comfort of being leading scorer of Galatasaray to join West Brom, and Okay from Spain, a Turkey international.

“I don’t think you could loan better for the money we’ve spent.”

Maitland-Niles certainly had plenty of other offers. Southampton and Newcastle were also linked.

But with Allardyce offering the England international regular first-team football – and the chance to play in his favoured central midfield role – this was an opportunity he could not resist.