West Brom have been dealt a huge blow with the news that a "very important" player has suffered a major injury setback, and Fabrizio Romano has revealed the likely timeline for a return to action.
West Brom news
The Baggies look set to be right in the Championship playoff mix in these final few months of the season, with Carlos Corberan's side fifth in the table, as things stand. There is also hope that the takeover of the club will be completed soon, with a recent report claiming Dr Shilen Patel is lining up Torino manager Ivan Juric to replace the current boss.
Some key January transfer business was conducted, in order to bolster West Brom's squad, with the likes of Mikey Johnston and Andreas Weimann arriving on loan until the end of the season, coming in from Celtic and Bristol City respectively.
There are more established current players who also remain key to the Baggies' hopes of returning to the Championship, however, and keeping them fit is going to be so important. That isn't the case with everyone at the moment, unfortunately, with Daryl Dike going off the pitch in tears in last Saturday's 2-2 draw away to Ipswich Town, having picked up what looked like a serious issue.
Daryl Dike set to return in early 2025
Taking to X, Romano confirmed that West Brom and USA striker Dike has ruptured his achilles, acting as an enormous blow for the injury-plagued attacker, revealing a probably return date of early 2025.
"Bad news again for Daryl Dike. It's a ruptured achilles, the second he has suffered in under a year. Dike will miss the majority of the remainder of 2024, expected to be back in 2025. Wish you all the best and speedy recovery."
This is such a tough one to take for Dike, not to mention being a hugely upsetting update for West Brom supporters, with the American's career at the Hawthorns constantly affected by the type of injuries that badly affect a player's abilities on return.
The 23-year-old arrived at the Baggies two years ago now, but in that time, he has been limited to just 32 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals along the way. That highlights just how little action Dike has enjoyed, and to suffer a second achilles problem in a short amount of time will raise concerns about how much he is affected in the long-term.
He is such an exciting prospect, which only makes it harder to take, with Corberan someone who has waxed lyrical over him in the past, saying: "The fitter he is, the better it is for the team. The more he trains, the better condition he’s in to perform. So there isn’t any doubt that he’s one very important player for us that we need to keep controlling, because he’s one player that we need in the box."
Brandon Thomas-Asante
10
John Swift
7
Grady Diangana
5
Matt Phillips
3
Jed Wallace
3
Tom Fellows
3
Realistically, West Brom will have to accept that Dike will play no part in the remainder of the year, and not having him around could have such an impact on their promotion hopes between now and May.
Admittedly, he has only featured for 49 minutes in the Championship this season and they are still flying high, but his quality in the final third could have been so important when the crunch matches arrive in the spring.