West Brom fans got their first glimspe of Yann M’Vila in action last weekend.
The midfielder joined the Baggies last month, moving to The Hawthorns as a free agent on a contract until the end of this season.
That move reunited him with manager Carlos Corberan, who he previously played under at Olympiacos.
Having made that move, M’Vila had been made to wait for his West Brom debut. Eventually, he got that opportunity on Saturday afternoon.
The 33-year-old came off the bench as a late substitute in the 2-0 win over Bristol City at The Hawthorns.
Now, it appears as though some observers of the club, are keen to see just how much more he will feature for the Baggies this season.
Reaction to Yann M’Vila debut
M’Vila had been brought in to provide depth to the centre of midfield for West Brom.
That came after a season-ending injury to Jayson Molumby. Since then though, Okay Yokuslu and Alex Mowatt have formed an effective partnership as a midfield two for Corberan’s side.
Despite that, Lewis Cox still believes M’Vila may have a significant part to play for the club between now and the end of the season.
Speaking on the Baggies Broadcast about how much we could see of the West Brom midfielder over the coming weeks, the Express and Star journalist said:
“The question mark now is only on a short-term deal until the end of the season, when and how often are we going to see him?
“Are we going to see him reach what might be perceived as his best? I don’t know, I’m not so sure, but I’ve got a feeling we’ll start to see him as a regular substitute. It kind of was the Chalobah role, and Chalobah was doing well for a couple of months either side of Christmas. But I think M’Vila’s got a role to play.
“It wouldn’t surprise me, obviously we all know that Yokuslu comes off semi-regularly, fairly regularly in games, if Albion can manage him they will. There are occasions where he plays 90 minutes but I think we’ll see M’Vila come on often. But we saw his ability to keep the ball, and intelligence maybe that will come with the career he’s had.
“I think it was an encouraging cameo, and he’s probably only one injury in midfield away from a really key role let’s be honest.”
As things stand, Corberan’s side are 5th in the Championship table, eight points clear in the race for a top six spot.
They are next in action on Friday 29th March, when they travel to The Den to face Millwall.
Yann M’Vila could be important for West Brom
It would feel like a surprise if we do not see more of M’Vila in action before the campaign comes to an end.
The 33-year-old produced a solid debut for West Brom last weekend, that suggests he is capable of doing a reliable job for them between now and the end of the season.
As has been noted here, that may well be important for the club, given the lack of depth they currently have in the centre of the park.
Indeed, given he has worked with him before, Corberan will no doubt trust M’Vila to stand up and be counted for the Baggies, should he be needed to do so.
The international break now also gives him more time to build up his match fitness. There is therefore a good chance that M’Vila will also be even better prepared to play a part for West Brom when the action gets back underway at the end of the month.
Given that will be the decisive period in the season for the club, it will be interesting to see how M’Vila fares.
Indeed, that may well also be decisive, when it comes to whather or not he gets a new contract with West Brom.