This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Sun, West Brom are the latest club to be linked with a move for their former loan ace Dwight Gayle.
It is a transfer that potentially suggests that Slaven Bilic is starting to regret one of his major summer decisions.
What’s the word?
The reports claim that the Baggies chief in command is keen on adding Newcastle United’s frontman to his league-leading squad.
Gayle enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at the Hawthorns last season under ex-boss Darren Moore as he bagged 24 goals in 41 appearances before returning in the summer.
Last weekend he finally played his first match back at his parent club after coming on as a substitute against Chelsea for four minutes.
Albion currently have Charlie Austin, Kenneth Zohore and Hal Robson-Kanu in the striking department with two of them being signed this summer.
Bilic’s blunder?
However, these links may tell a more damning story up in the west Midlands as, despite all of the goal-laden matches West Brom have been involved in, their strikers haven’t yet lived up to expectations.
The Baggies have netted 24 goals in 13 Championship matches this term, but just four of those have come from the three aforementioned strikers, which is quite a worrying return.
Austin was signed on deadline day for £4m from Southampton and has scored just the one goal in nine appearances.
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Now that the club are reportedly chasing Gayle again, it could suggest that Bilic is starting to regret his decision to force through a deal for the 30-year-old at the last hour.
Had the club spent a bit more money in the summer, they could quite easily have tempted Magpies boss Steve Bruce into making a decision in regards to selling the 29-year-old forward.
If the club do indeed pursue a striker in January, it will only reinforce the belief that he may have lost some faith in Austin at this early stage of the campaign.