West Brom £15m Journeyman Flop Lands Another Top Flight Club
When Oliver Burke arrived at West Bromwich Albion in 2017 for a club-record £15 million, hopes were high that the young Scottish winger would live up to the hype. Explosive pace, Premier League potential, and a hefty price tag marked Burke as a marquee signing. However, his time at The Hawthorns would ultimately become a cautionary tale of inflated expectations and misjudged recruitment.
Burke was brought in under then-manager Tony Pulis, but the move was far from seamless. In a 2023 interview with the *Express & Star*, Pulis candidly admitted he had no desire to sign Burke, revealing that the club’s ownership insisted on the transfer. “It wasn’t my call,” Pulis said. “He was one for the future, but I needed players for the present. It wasn’t the right fit.” That disconnect set the tone for Burke’s ill-fated stint in the Black Country.
The Scottish international struggled to make an impact in a West Brom side that was battling for Premier League survival. In his debut season, Burke made just 15 league appearances without scoring a single goal. Injuries, inconsistent form, and questions over his footballing intelligence saw him fall quickly out of favour. By the time the Baggies were relegated in 2018, Burke was already being seen as a costly misstep.
What followed was a nomadic career path that earned Burke the label of a “journeyman.” Loan spells at Celtic, Deportivo Alavés, and Alaves failed to reignite his career, though brief flashes of promise occasionally surfaced. A move to Sheffield United in 2020 offered another shot at redemption in the Premier League, but even there, Burke struggled to nail down a consistent role. Despite scoring a memorable winner against Manchester United, he failed to build momentum.
Yet, in a somewhat surprising twist, Oliver Burke has now landed another opportunity in a top-flight league, with his latest move taking him to a club in Europe’s top tier. Though details of the transfer remain under wraps at the time of writing, it marks another chapter in a career that continues to defy convention.
For many West Brom supporters, Burke’s name is synonymous with a period of poor recruitment and mismanagement at board level. His time at The Hawthorns serves as a reminder of what can go wrong when clubs invest heavily in potential without a clear plan for development or integration.
Now 27, Burke still has time to rewrite the narrative of his career. His raw attributes—particularly his speed—remain as tantalising as ever. But questions linger over whether he can finally deliver on the promise that once made him one of Britain’s most expensive teenagers.
For West Brom, the £15 million gamble never paid off. For Burke, the story continues. His latest move offers one more chance to prove the doubters wrong—and to show that even football’s most maligned figures can still find redemption at the top level.
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