West Brom fans will no doubt have fond memories of the time Romelu Lukaku spent at The Hawthorns.
The striker joined the Baggies back in the summer of 2012, when he signed on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Initially, the Belgian struggled to get going during his time with the club. However, Lukaku would begin to flourish as that campaign went on.
By the end of the season, the striker had scored 17 goals in 35 Premier League games for West Brom, helping them to an 8th place finish in the top-flight.
Lukaku then moved on from the club following the expiration of his loan deal at The Hawthorns.
Now though, it seems as though things could have been rather different, had West Brom taken an alternative stance earlier in that campaign.
West Brom had chance to sign Romelu Lukaku permanently
Following the end of his loan spell at The Hawthorns, Lukaku has gone on to play for a number of other big name clubs.
He has won several honours in that time, and was also nominated for the Ballon D’Or in 2021. He could though, also have stayed at West Brom for some time longer.
Former Baggies defender Jonas Olsson has now revealed that the club elected not to take up an option to buy the Belgian, during his loan spell.
Speaking about Lukaku on the Fozcast podcast alongside his former West Brom teammate Ben Foster, Olsson said:
“I think West Brom had in the loan contract, that they could trigger a clause and buy him after half a season.
“But they didn’t because he was struggling in the first-half of the season, and then he was flying the second-half of the season! What a player, what a guy.”
Baggies fans will wonder what might have been
You feel this revelation that the club missed the chance to sign Lukaku permanently will be tough to take for West Brom fans.
Obviously, it is unlikely that the striker would still be at The Hawthorns now as part of Carlos Corberan‘s side.
However, making his move permanent when they had the chance, would at least have seen them keep him for a bit longer.
That would have allowed them to enjoy a player who was excellent for West Brom for a bit longer. Indeed, it could also have brought more success to The Hawthorns.
Beyond that, the permanent signing of Lukaku would have allowed them to sell him on themselves in the future.
That in turn, would have brought more useful funds into the club, that could have been reinvested on strengthening it further.
As a result, this revelation from Olsson – himself an iconic figure at the club – may well lead to some questions about the decision making at West Brom at that time.