West Brom struck gold signing gem who’d be worth just £7m in 2024 money
West Bromwich Albion stumbled across a great bargain with this gem.
After Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in their most recent game, Carlos Corberan is trying to give his team some confidence ahead of the Championship final day.
The Baggies, who are now holding onto sixth place cautiously with Hull City just two points behind them in seventh, face the risk of missing out on the playoffs if they don’t exercise caution.
In the West Midlands, heroes must rise to the occasion. The Baggies are in dire need of a player with the caliber of this previous great, who was instrumental in helping West Brom advance to the Premier League in the past.
The tenure of Zoltan Gera at West Brom
It’s safe to say that Zoltan Gera’s name is still spoken in the legend category in West Brom stadiums after playing for the Baggies for two spells and accruing 191 games at the Hawthorns.
Despite the Baggies competing in the demanding Premier League, Gera’s first stay saw him blast into life, scoring six goals from 38 games during his debut campaign.
This first impactful season even saw then West Brom manager Gary Megson describe Gera as “terrific” and a “blinding” individual to have around the group, going on to become a major fan’s favourite at the Hawthorns.
Signed for just £1.5m from his native Hungary back in 2004, the deal continued to look like an absolute bargain throughout his initial four-season stay with his peak coming during the 2007/08 campaign where his side would lift the Championship title.
The Hungarian midfielder would help himself to 17 goal contributions in all competitions that season, becoming a key cog in the promotion machine that would end up being second-tier champions.
Corberan is crying out for a similar figure like Gera in his current camp, with the likes of Jed Wallace and Grady Diangana shirking the spotlight as of late when their team need a driving force going forward to get them over the line to secure a spot in the playoffs.
The £1.5m deal to bring Gera into the building from Ferencvárosi TC, in today’s inflated market, would still feel like a steal when examining TotallyFootball’s Transfer Index.
Gera’s transfer value in 2024
If this same deal went through in 2024, West Brom would still only be paying £7.2m to win Gera’s services – according to TotallyFootball – which is a cheap deal when you look over how important the Hungarian midfielder was for the Baggies over his many years at the club.
To add further context, the aforementioned Diangana would cost £12m to get him into the building back in 2020 who has struggled to be as consistent and impactful as Gera managed to be over his stay in the West Midlands to date.
From 164 games, Diangana has impressively amassed 22 goals and 19 assists to his credit. But, he’s still some way off the levels of adoration West Brom fans gave to Gera with the Hungarian getting to 29 goals and 20 assists overall by the time he called a day on his Baggies career.
West Brom will hope, if they can manage to win promotion despite poor recent results, that they can get in another golden deal like Gera and not fall victim to reckless overspending which has cost them dear in the top-flight before.