West Brom must rue Harvey Barnes decision that changed the dynamic | OneFootball

Albion’s capture of Harvey Barnes was a fantastic piece of business, but a January recall completely changed the outcome of their 2018/19 season.

The 2018/19 season spelled West Brom’s first term back in the Championship in more than eight years, with the club fully expectant of returning to the top flight at the first attempt.

A resilient fightback in the Premier League before relegation handed Baggies legend Darren Moore the hotseat on a full-time basis, with Albion possessing a very strong squad at the second tier level.

The Black Country outfit conducted some successful summer business in the hopes of delivering Premier League football back to B71, with the arrival of Dwight Gayle helping to add goals at the top end of the pitch with Jay Rodriguez, while the capture of Sam Johnstone in between the sticks cemented their number one choice keeper.

A signing relatively unknown at the time, tasting his first experience of Championship football, was winger Harvey Barnes, who arrived at The Hawthorns on loan from top flight outfit Leicester City.

The now 27-year-old went on to stun the Albion crowd with his raw talent and creative abilities, helping to create and score goals as the Baggies became a free-flowing and entertaining side to watch at the top of the Championship.

Harvey Barnes’ loan spell at West Brom

Albion loanee Barnes would burst onto the scene in the West Midlands, curling in a stunning left-footed effort from the edge of the box in a 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

Barnes would continue to excel and thrive in the blue and white stripes, ripping through defenses with his blistering pace and having no issues converting or setting up chances on either foot.

Contributing a goal and two assists in a 4-2 victory over Bristol City, Barnes would go on to net against the likes of Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Leeds, Ipswich, Brentford and Rotherham, getting supporters on the edge of their seats whenever he received the ball.

Barnes had shown himself to be Albion’s most vital creative playmaker, completing 90 minutes in 10 out of the last 11 league games heading into the new year.

However, Albion hearts would be shattered heading into January, as Foxes manager Claude Puel opted to recall Barnes to the King Power Stadium, with the Baggies suffering a body blow to their promotion hopes.

Barnes would finish his spell at West Brom with nine goals and seven assists from 26 Championship appearances, firmly establishing himself as a fan favourite in the Black Country.

Harvey Barnes departure changed West Brom’s fortunes

From Barnes’ departure, Albion would go on some inconsistent patches of form in the second tier, which would cost them an automatic promotion place.

It also cost Darren Moore his job, with failure to beat then basement boys Ipswich Town in March 2019 the final nail in the coffin of his tenure.

Caretaker boss Jimmy Shan stepped in and guided the Baggies to the play-offs with a fourth-placed finish, but the Black Country outfit were edged out on penalties in the semi-final against West Midlands rivals Aston Villa, who eventually gained promotion back to the big time.

It’s a case of Baggies fans thinking what could have been, with Barnes’ sensational form paired with Gayle and Rodriguez’s goalscoring prowess a truly devastating partnership that could have cruised the side into the top two if they'd spent the whole season together.

Compared to the squad that gained promotion the following season under Slaven Bilic, West Brom would have potentially been better equipped to stay in the Premier League, with key figures like Craig Dawson alongside Rodriguez, and the permanent signing of Gayle offering much more firepower to compete with the big boys.

With Aston Villa going back up that season, the Baggies may feel they could have had similar fortunes to their Midlands counterparts if they had Barnes over those two legs, with the Villains now competing in the Champions League and being one of the more dominant sides in English football years on after their play-off success.

The departure of Barnes had many negative permutations for Albion, and there will always be sadness from the Baggies fanbase that he wasn’t able to replicate his form for the whole season.