West Brom boss Slaven Bilic was desperate for a new striker this summer and he finally got his wish in landing top target Karlan Grant from Huddersfield on the eve of the domestic transfer deadline.

But was he the right signing? In hindsight, perhaps not.

Express & Star reporter Joseph Masi revealed to the Baggies Broadcast podcast in July that Albion were "in talks" with then-Peterborough forward Ivan Toney, he said:

"They are looking at Ivan Toney from Peterborough, they’re in talks for him at the minute."

Evidently, that did not come to fruition as the 24-year-old joined Championship playoff finalists Brentford for an initial £5m, which could rise to a maximum of £10m through add-ons, as per Sky Sports.

The decision to not push through a move for the former Newcastle United graduate is looking to already be a disaster from sporting and technical director Luke Dowling.

On Wednesday night, he took his tally for the season to seven goals, bagging his third successive brace. That's nearly 1.2 goals per appearance this season and at that rate, he'll surpass Grant's 19 goals in 43 appearances for the Terriers with ease.

Toney is also averaging 3.2 shots per game, which is more than the 2.6 the new West Brom man managed per match too.

Grant wasn't able to kickstart his Hawthorns career in a fairytale way, failing to score in his 73 minutes against Burnley on Monday evening, though Bilic will be hoping that his one shot off target was a mere byproduct of his lack of pre-season and match time. He did very little else on debut.

The Baggies have got it badly wrong with strikers before, the list is never-ending from Brown Ideye to Charlie Austin and Kenneth Zohore last season.

Posh chairman Barry Fry dubbed his former striker a "revelation" amid interest from Scottish champions Celtic, whilst Toney's old boss Steve Evans once claimed he was a "dream" to manage due to his "phenomenal" work rate.

On an early viewing, he certainly looks like he could have been the better option to Grant. Those in the Midlands better hope he isn't the one that got away come May.

£5m, what a bargain.

AND in other news, West Brom have the last laugh over Pulis FLOP despite eye-watering financial LOSS...