West Brom racing to sign “powerful” striker

After suffering a disappointing 2-0 defeat away at Middlesbrough, Tony Mowbray might well have been fearing a potential banana skin clash with Portsmouth as his second game back at the helm of West Bromwich Albion.

The 61-year-old didn’t need to fear anything after all as his Baggies side swept the floor with Portsmouth in devastating fashion in a 5-1 victory, as the Hawthorns masses afterwards sang Mowbray’s praises after such an exhilarating performance.

Mowbray had made a number of changes for this contest to try and get a reaction out of his troops, with the decision to play Grady Diangana up top working an absolute treat.

Diangana’s stunning performance vs Pompey

This was only the ex-West Ham United attacker’s eighth start of the season in the Championship, and based on what he offered up versus Pompey, he will be a shoo-in for more starts moving forward.

His campaign had been disrupted by injury when Carlos Corberan was still in the building, but under fresh management, Diangana could really kick on and get back to his previous best.

The cool finish above saw Diangana pick up a brace on the day to gift his side a bumper 4-0 lead, with the Congolese ace also turning provider in the one-sided affair with two assists next to his name come full-time.

Praised after the full-time whistle by Mowbray for his ability to “dance on the ball”, it will be intriguing to see if Diangana can put in more breathtaking displays like this in games to come, as the 26-year-old attacker goes about trying to win himself a new contract at the Hawthorns.

No doubt goal-laden performances such as these will ensure contract talks whir into motion, with the potential for Diangana to cause more havoc alongside a new recruit.

West Brom looking at “powerful” striker

As per a new report by Football Mercato – relayed by Sport Witness – West Brom still remain in the hunt to snap up St. Gallen forward Willem Geubbels this window.

But, they may need to move quick in order to strike up a deal with the potent Frenchman as Luton Town are now reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ themselves over winning the 23-year-old’s services.

Regardless of any new developments, the Baggies will presumably try to tempt Geubbels to call the Hawthorns home over Kenilworth Road, with the potential there for an imposing 6 foot 2 striker to form a deadly relationship in attack with a reinvigorated Diangana.

After all, this season playing out in Switzerland, Geubbels has helped himself to a reasonable six goals from 13 league contests, with only an injury-stricken Josh Maja scoring more at 12 in the current Baggies ranks when glancing at the league numbers.

There’s plenty more to be encouraged by when delving deeper into his Swiss Super League statistics too, with a healthy scoring frequency next to his name of every 145 minutes, whilst his tag as a “powerful” attacker – as he has been billed in the past by The Rangers Journal – is also apparent with 3.7 duels won per league game.

In contrast, Diangana – although he can be nippy and direct – comes in just short with 3.6 for the season, with the 26-year-old’s trickery and creativity away from his ability to be imposing meaning Geubbels could immediately hit the ground moving to England.

Whilst losing Corberan was demoralising in the moment, West Brom look to have bounced back now with the popular appointment of Mowbray, who will aim to get even more out of his group after such a fantastic victory on Saturday.