Kyle Lafferty to West Brom: Is it a good potential move? Would he start? What does he offer? | OneFootball

This is a very important summer for Kyle Lafferty who is now a free agent after leaving Kilmarnock and with him entering the final stages of his career he will want to secure the best move possible.

Football League World has revealed that there are a number of Championship clubs that are potentially interested in securing a move for Lafferty this summer.

That comes after he fired in eight goals in just nine appearances for Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League in his short spell.

It is believed by Football League World that West Brom are amongst the group of sides that could be interested in making the Northern Irishman an offer this summer.

The Baggies face competition from the likes of Derby County, Birmingham City, Middlesbrough, Cardiff City, Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic.

So, with West Brom one of the teams that are in the race for Lafferty, we take a look at whether it would be a good move, whether he would start and also what he has to offer…

Is it a good move?

There will be plenty of West Brom fans who will have reservations about this potential signing. Lafferty is a player that is now entering the latter part of his career at the age of 33, and he has never really been able show consistent form throughout his career.

Lafferty is a player that has had various purple patches of form with certain clubs, or indeed at international level. That has raised his profile in the transfer market and persuaded teams to make a move for him. However, he has often followed that up with underwhelming spells of form.

The Northern Irishman was obviously in excellent form for Kilmarnock and he almost single handedly helped to drag them to safety in the Scottish Premier League. However, even his tally of eight goals in nine matches was not enough to keep them up.

Before that though, Lafferty struggled to make much of an impression in Serie B with Reggina where he managed to make just 11 appearances in which he scored just the one goal.

His previous spell in England came with Sunderland in League One, but again that was not a successful period for the striker and he could only find the net twice in 11 appearances.

West Brom are in need of a goalscorer and someone who can almost guarantee them 15 to 20 goals in the Championship next term.

That is something that you could just not see Lafferty being able to provide.

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Would he start?

It probably says a lot at the moment about the options, or lack of them, that West Brom have upfront that he would actually be in with a shout of starting. That of course would be under the assumption he would be their only forward signing which is unlikely.

The Baggies have already lost the likes of Charlie Austin and Hal Robson-Kanu, while Mbaye Diagne has left following the end of his loan spell.

There is only really Karlan Grant and Callum Robinson left who could realistically lead the line for West Brom next term in their current squad. Both of those players are often deployed in the wider positions or not directly upfront.

That means if Lafferty arrived then he would certainly have a chance of starting if he was the only arrival in his position.

However, you would still expect him to be viewed as more of a squad player because if they are relying on him to be their main man then they are taking a huge gamble.

What would he offer?

One of the most obvious things that Lafferty would offer is experience, and he is certainly a player that is well-travelled having taken in spells in Scotland, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and Norway.

The Northern Irishman as mentioned previously is also a player that does have the potential to hit real purple patches of form and when he is on one of those runs it can be difficult for teams to keep him out. Should he manage to find that spell of form at the Hawthorns he would be an asset.

Given the fact that he is available on a free transfer, he also represents someone that would offer a cheap route for the club to strengthen their forward options this summer. Bringing Lafferty in as an inexpensive squad player might help them save funds to move for more inspiring transfer targets.