According to the Express & Star, West Brom boss Slaven Bilic decided against signing one of his loan targets on deadline day as a move collapsed over a potential departure.

What's the word?

It is claimed that Chris Brunt looked set to join Stoke City but a switch to Staffordshire fell through as the Potters were unable to offload centre-back Bruno Martins Indi.

Had the Baggies' long-serving skipper been allowed to leave, then Bilic would have looked to sign Watford midfielder Domingos Quina on loan as a replacement.

But as a result, the late turn of events stopped him from doing so. He told the media:

"Quina was an option but only if one of our players was leaving. There was a possibility that one of our players would go and one more. And for one I said okay, and the other I said no, no way.

"Then maybe we would have got Domingos. But because that transfer did not happen it would not be fair to player to bring him in but for him not to be involved as much as he deserves to be."

Slaven Bilic, West Brom head coach.

Opportunity missed

This may have been a mistake from Bilic as he should have probably looked to sign the 20-year-old starlet anyway.

Albion's engine room hasn't been at its best in recent weeks with Romaine Sawyers putting up just one rating above 6.8 since the start of December. They have even had to deal with the absence of Matheus Pereira in the number ten role following his three-game suspension.

A player like Quina would have been the perfect solution and a completely viable option in his own right for the rest of the season - he would certainly offer the team something more than Brunt, who has played just 37 minutes in the Championship all season - even 38-year-old Gareth Barry has managed over double that.

The Watford youngster is a man Bilic knows well from his time at West Ham, where he was also likened to a star that has made the World Cup final and even won multiple Champions League titles.

"The West Ham coaches think I'm more like a Luka Modric-style of player, I can play eight or 10. I've also played as a No 6 for the U23s."

Domingos Quina, Watford midfielder.

As he explains himself, he's also able to play anywhere centrally which would have only opened up the playbook even more as he could fill in for any of their underperforming stars or deputise if any get suspended or injured.

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Quina has played 12 times in the Premier League but has only managed four substitute appearances this campaign, per Transfermarkt. He probably could have done with this loan switch just as much as the Baggies could have done with him in their promotion run-in.

And in other news, West Brom miss out on financial windfall as details emerge over failed transfer...