When West Bromwich Albion resigned Romaine Sawyers for around £2.88m back in 2019, hopes at The Hawthorns were extremely high for the Baggies academy product.

Indeed, the 29-year-old had just enjoyed an impressive season with Brentford, providing six assists, creating two big chances and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.89 over his 42 Championship appearances for the Bees.

This initially appeared to be form that Sawyers would continue for Albion, with the midfielder turning in a number of solid performances during his first season back in the West Midlands, scoring one goal, registering one assist and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.80 over his 42 Championship fixtures in 2019/20.

The Saint Kitts and Nevis international's partner in the middle of the pitch, Jake Livermore, also seemed to be extremely impressed with the ability of Sawyers, with the West Brom captain stating back in 2019: "He is fantastic. I love the boy as a kid and I love him as a player. I love playing alongside him. He is a nice calming influence. I think we bounce off each other quite well.

"He was at West Brom as a kid and credit to them because he has been fantastic since he has come back. I back him to be a real, real top player and I have played with a few. But I back him to be as good as anyone I have played with, to be honest. And I mean that."

However, upon the Baggies' promotion to the top flight, things started to take a turn for the worst for the £1.8m-rated midfielder.

Indeed, over his 19 Premier League appearances the following season, Sawyers failed to have any real impact for Albion, scoring no goals, registering no assists and earning an extremely disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of just 6.47 - ranking him as the club's joint-worst performer in the league.

This is a trend that has continued for the £10k-per-week man in the current campaign, as, after being bombed out of the Albion side by Valerien Ismael this summer, the 29-year-old has failed to impress over his eight Championship appearances while on loan at Stoke City, scoring no goals, registering just one assist and averaging an extremely shoddy SofaScore match rating of 6.58.

As such, despite signs of early promise upon his return to West Bromwich a little over two years ago, Sawyers' poor displays at the bet365 Stadium, coupled with the fact that his contract at The Hawthorns expires next summer, could well indicate that the academy product has played his final game for the club.

In other news: Forget Bartley: WBA's £36k-p/w "leader" who made just 4 passes failed Ismael once more