Westbromwich Albion sign Brown Ideye in record transfer

Super Eagles forward, Brown Ideye, has left Dynamo Kiev for West Bromwich Albion after both clubs agreed on a transfer fee for the player who was dropped from Stephen Keshi’s World Cup squad.

Ideye signed a three-year contract, with an option for a fourth, with the Premier League club after agreeing to leave the Ukrainian outfit.

According to the official website of the club, the Nigerian has been hooked for a club-record transfer fee.

“Albion have signed Nigeria international striker Brown Ideye from Dynamo Kiev for a club-record transfer fee.

“The 25-year-old has put pen to paper on a three-year contract, plus a further year’s option in the club’s favour, after agreeing personal terms and passing a Hawthorns medical,” West Brom reported on their website on Friday night.

The transfer fee for Ideye remains undisclosed.

Hawthorns’ manager, Alan Irvin, can’t wait to start working with the player, whom he described as a quality striker.

“Brown is a quality striker and I’m looking forward to working with him.

“He’s a strong, quick, powerful player who likes to get in behind defences and has plenty of Champions League and international experience,” Irvin told West Brom’s website.

Ideye has been handed the Albion number nine shirt and will join up with the squad when they return from a pre-season training camp in California.

He scored 34 goals in three seasons with Dynamo, having previously played for Sochaux and Neuchatel Xamax after starting his career in Nigeria with Ocean Boys.

He has won 24 caps for Nigeria, scoring five goals including one in the semi-final as the Super Eagles won last year’s African Nations Cup. That tournament brought the best out of the striker who struggled to translate his club form in the Super Eagles.

In South Africa, Ideye took the pressure and attention away from Emmanuel Emenike and his assists set up goals for the Fenerbache striker to emerge top scorer.

Keshi may have weighed his lack of goals over his good link-up play with Emenike and dropped him for the World Cup in Brazil.

To say that in Ideye’s absence, Emenike failed to shine in Brazil is a moot point.

If he starts on a scoring note with West Brom, he could make a return to the national team and rekindle the partnership with Emenike, who himself is courting suitors from the Barclays Premier League.