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When it comes to transfer business there are often many secrets. The very fact some deals go through as undisclosed is full evidence of that.
Some moves also take longer than others. We often subject ourselves to long drawn out transfer sagas and this summer has been no different, particularly with players like Paul Pogba.
It all gets rather tiresome but sometimes, they are fully worth the wait, even at Championship level.
West Brom’s recruitment took a long time to get going as they first set about welcoming a new manager.
Through the door came Slaven Bilic, a man unbeaten in the league after his first competitive matches in charge. Whether his appointment came as a surprise or not, some of the deals they concluded in the transfer window were certainly different.
Albion targeted well-known players to the division in Semi Ajayi, Romaine Sawyers and Kenneth Zohore but they also went after individuals far less recognised on English shores.
They brought in Filip Krovinovc, a player compared to Kevin de Bruyne, on loan from Benfica but their sweep of Portugal didn’t stop there.
For a while, the Croat was their only arrival until the Baggies finally got going. Deadline day was a particularly busy time as they managed to bring Matheus Pereira to the Hawthorns alongside three other faces.
The Brazilian played in the Bundesliga in Germany last season so this was somewhat of a coup for a team plying their trade in the second tier of English football.
But this wasn’t a transfer that happened quickly. In fact, it was a painstaking meticulous task to get him to come to the Midlands.
According to Luke Dowling, it took three to four weeks for something to finally be agreed.
His parent club originally wanted an obligation to buy the 23-year-old in the terms but Albion weren’t willing to agree to it. Instead, there is now an option of £9m embedded in his loan contract.
Whether they can exercise it depends on appearances.
Signing someone on loan always comes with its doubts. Will the player care? Will they prove worth your time when they can leave in a year? No one really knows.
With Pereira, though, it’s beginning to look as though it was worth the wait.
There was an initial sense that Krovinovic would be the much-needed creative outlet West Brom required. Yet, in six matches he has just one assist.
Compare that to Pereira and he’s claimed two assists in just his first league start for the club.
Against Blackburn last weekend, there was a renewed swagger to the Baggies that arguably hasn’t been seen since Harvey Barnes left last January.
The Leicester man featured out wide and behind the striker during his time at the Hawthorns and it was in the number 10 role that Pereira flourished, rather than his usual position on the flanks.
He was magnificent, playing a colossal six key passes, having two shots and being fouled five times per WhoScored.
It was exactly what you wanted from a player in that role, especially after West Brom lacked creativity during the back end of 2018/19.
When Barnes was at Albion, he scored nine and assisted six. The youngster managed 3.4 shots per game, was fouled 2.2 times each outing on average and registered 1.5 key passes over the same metric according to WhoScored.
The similarities between the two are clear to see.
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Even if negotiations for Pereira’s albeit temporary signature were strained, those at the negotiating table did a superb job to convince Sporting to let him go.
Last season, West Brom’s highest assist maker didn’t get over seven. Barnes was there for half a term but only Matt Phillips outmuscled him in terms of creativity.
Chris Brunt and Jay Rodriguez claimed six, the same as Barnes, and there lies a damning indictment of their lack of a true playmaker.
The small glimpses we’ve got of Pereira this season suggests he is the answer to their troubles.
For the first time since Barnes left nine months ago, they have someone to excite behind the striker.
As Bilic looks to take his side higher up the table after the international break, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he became a permanent fixture in the starting XI.
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