Undoubtedly: West Brom Hit the Jackpot With Initial Benfica Deal but Same Heights Were Never Met in PL: View
The 2019/20 season undoubtedly proved to be a successful one for West Bromwich Albion.
After two seasons in the Championship, a second place finish in the final standings saw the Baggies win promotion back to the Premier League.
Several of the club’s loan players made important contributions to that success, with the goals of Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana a particular standout for supporters.
It is though, worth noting that another loan player who made an important contribution, of something of a different kind, during that West Brom promotion campaign, was Filip Krovinovic.
Benfica loanee helped Baggies to Championship promotion
Back in early July 2019, West Brom confirmed the signing of Krovinovic on a season-long loan from Portuguese champions Benfica.
The midfielder had made nine appearances in all competitions for his parent club in the 2018-19 campaign, as they claimed the top-flight title in Portugal.
Krovinovic though, would have a bigger part to play while on loan with West Brom as they won promotion back to the Premier League in the 2019-20 season.
| 2019-20 Championship standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Club | Played | GD | Points |
| 1st | Leeds United (P) | 46 | +42 | 93 |
| 2nd | West Brom (P) | 46 | +32 | 83 |
| 3rd | Brentford | 46 | +42 | 81 |
| 4th | Fulham (P/O W) | 46 | +16 | 81 |
| 5th | Cardiff City | 46 | +10 | 73 |
| 6th | Swansea City | 46 | +9 | 70 |
Over the course of that campaign, the Croatian made a total of 43 appearances for the Baggies, starting 26 of those.
As well as scoring three goals and providing four assists to contribute some valuable goals, he also helped to provide a sense of influence and control in the centre of the park.
Indeed, those efforts did seem to make Krovinovic a popular figure among the West Brom fanbase during that season.
It was therefore, perhaps no surprise to see the club move to bring him back to The Hawthorns for a second spell following promotion to the Premier League in the summer of 2020.
In September 2020, it was confirmed that Krovinovic had returned to the Midlands for another spell on loan from Benfica, although that is a move that arguably did not go as much to plan.
Krovinovic struggled in the Premier League with West Brom
With the Baggies playing at a higher level during the midfielder’s second spell with the club, he did struggle to make the same level of impact.
The Croatian was unable to make himself as much of a regular at The Hawthorns as he had the season before.
By the 22nd January 2021, Krovinovic had already failed to feature in eight of the 19 Premier League games West Brom had played up until then.
That was already more than the six league games he had missed across the whole of the previous campaign in the Championship.
With the Baggies struggling as they slid towards an immediate relegation from the Premier League, the midfielder was also unable to score or assist a single goal for the club that season.
As a result, it was at that point that despite the fact he had been loaned to West Brom for the season, Krovinovic was recalled by Benfica.
He did though, remain in England, joining Nottingham Forest on loan for the second half of the 2020/21 season.
