West Brom must regret AC Milan transfer miss - He would become £56m Arsenal record breaker | OneFootball

The Baggies will surely still rue not completing the signing of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang given his goalscoring prowess for Borussia Dortmund and Arse

West Brom have had some fantastic players represent the blue and white stripes through the years, but there have also been situations where some deals have slipped through the club’s fingers.

The Baggies had a glorious eight-year stay in the Premier League between 2010 and 2018, establishing themselves as top-flight regulars as they improved their squad season-upon-season.

But one player who got away on the transfer front was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was close to linking up at The Hawthorns, but a deal never got over the line.

With Aubameyang going from strength to strength and showcasing his goalscoring talent at the top levels of English football, it is sure to be a case of what could have been had Albion managed to secure his signature all those years ago.

How Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nearly signed for West Brom

As per a report from the Express & Star back in 2017, West Brom’s former scout, Stuart White, revealed how he recommended Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the club when the striker was on loan at Saint-Étienne from AC Milan in 2011, with Albion nearly taking him on a loan deal, with a view to buy him for €2 million.

White spent 15 years at the Baggies between 2000 and 2015 before he was let go shortly after Tony Pulis was made head coach.

White said: “I had been to Dijon on a Friday night to watch one player in particular, a centre forward who didn’t impress me at all,” White told Planet Football. “My ‘bonus game’ before flying home on the Sunday was Auxerre v Saint-Étienne on the Saturday night.

Saint-Étienne drew the game 2-2, but Aubameyang and Emmanuel Riviere were tremendous as a pair.

“I came back raving about Aubameyang, and, as luck would have it, his agent called me the following week, probably because he’d got to know that I had been at the game.

“He was obviously calling many clubs, but the lad was then a Milan player on loan at Saint-Étienne and he was interested in coming to England.

“The outline deal was explained to me, and it was clear that he was going to be affordable, so I recommended that we pursued it.

“On the back of my shout, a few more of our scouts went out to watch him a week or two later, and he scored an early goal against Sochaux in a 2-1 defeat but didn’t impress sufficiently on the night, which can happen. He then went back to Saint-Étienne, scored 21 in 45 and was subsequently sold to Dortmund for €13 million. He would have been a free loan to us with a €2 million fee tied into the deal had we taken him.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s rise after West Brom snub

West Brom would go on to rue missing out on the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the Gabon international going on to have a sensational rise in the game after making his move to German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund.

The now 35-year-old would go on to be a Bundesliga marksman, registering 25 goals from 31 appearances in the 2015/16 season before netting a staggering 31 goals from 32 matches the following campaign.

Hitting double figures for goals every season since joining Dortmund, Premier League heavyweights Arsenal swooped in for his signature, securing the forward in a reported £56 million deal – a club record for the Gunners at the time.

Aubameyang would transition his goalscoring exploits into the top-flight over a five-year stay, notching 22 strikes from 36 Premier League outings in the 2018/19 term.

He would equal that tally the following season, and would break a record in North London, becoming the fastest player to score 50 goals for a club – with Aubameyang completing the feat in just 79 matches.

Guaranteeing goals at the top end of the pitch, Aubameyang moved on to Barcelona after departing the Emirates Stadium, before making a return to Premier League side Chelsea a year on.

In the last two seasons, the forward had a short stint in France with Marseille and is currently playing his football in Saudi Arabia with Al Qadsiah.

West Brom could have had different long-term fortunes with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line

It’s a case of what could have been for West Brom had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signed on the dotted line, with Albion going into the early stages of their eight-year stay in the Premier League.

Back in 2011, Albion were a force in the top-flight, registering a 10th-placed finish under Roy Hodgson before securing eighth place under Scotsman Steve Clarke.

The Baggies were such a free-flowing team going forward with Romelu Lukaku up front, but it could have been spellbinding watching the Belgian and Aubameyang partner together up front.

This kind of partnership could have been a key factor to Albion securing a European place all those years ago, which in turn could have led to the Baggies reinstating themselves as one of the major heavyweights in English football.

While it isn’t worth dwelling on things that didn’t happen, the failure to lure Aubameyang could have had a lasting impact on the club, and Albion might not be in the Championship right now had the frontman joined the project at The Hawthorns.