West Brom must look at ex-Cardiff City player in bid to sign new striker: Opinion

Kaba is back at FC Midtjylland following a spell with the Bluebirds, but the Baggies could do with his skillset as another option up top

 West Bromwich Albion supporters have finally seen promising developments with the signing of winger Jeremy Sarmiento on loan and talks of a potential club sale for £60 million.

The club’s financial situation has been uncertain, with a £20 million loan taken out last year and the loss of parachute payments. The sale of defender Dara O’Shea helped recoup some money.

Carlos Corberan is now looking to strengthen the strike-force, with Daryl Dike’s injury record being a concern. Sory Kaba, who has Championship experience, could be a viable option for adding goals to the front-line

After months of seemingly bad news, West Bromwich Albion supporters have finally seen a few promising developments at the club – both on and off the pitch.

The Baggies’ financial future was uncertain following the end of the 2022-23 season – failure to make it into the Championship play-offs meant that a return to the Premier League was off for another year and the parachute payments had run out.

A £20 million loan taken out last December to help with the running costs of the club was a sign that all was not well as owner Guochuan Lai continues to be absent, and defender Dara O’Shea had to be sold to Burnley for £7 million in order to recoup some of the money lost with no parachute payments anymore.

This week though, the signing of winger Jeremy Sarmiento on loan from Brighton and the news that French businessman Fred Chesnais is in talks to buy the club for £60 million from Lai has somewhat cheered the fanbase up a bit.

And the revelation that Carlos Corberan is now targeting an addition to his strike-force following the arrival of Sarmiento is a positive sign with just Daryl Dike – who has suffered many injuries since his January 2022 arrival for £7 million – and Brandon Thomas-Asante the only senior options.

Corberan and the recruitment team need to weigh up the viable options infront of them and it could end up being another loan that is pushed through, but one player that they need to have their eyes on is Sory Kaba.

Who is Sory Kaba?

Kaba may be a name that some Baggies fans are already familiar with as he netted against them for Cardiff City in the 2022-23 season.

The 27-year-old is a Guinea international who is certainly well travelled, having started his career with Spanish club Alcobendas, having moved to the country from his home nation as a child.

Kaba then had spells at Elche and Dijon of France before making the move to Denmark in 2019 with FC Midtjylland, but after 22 goals in 77 appearances over two seasons, he was loaned out to OH Leuven of Belgium.

Despite scoring 12 goals in 29 outings for them, Kaba wasn’t signed permanently by Leuven and after scoring just four times in 27 outings in the first half of the 2022-23 season, Cardiff City decided to loan the Guinean in for the remainder of the campaign.

Kaba was prolific for Cardiff, scoring eight times in 17 appearances, but with the Bluebirds unable to sign players for a transfer fee, the forward headed back to Denmark, where he has already begun the 2023-24 season with Midtjylland – coming off the bench in their league opener against Hvidovre and then starting and scoring in a Europa League qualifier on Wednesday against Progrés of Luxembourg.

Will Sory Kaba be available this summer?

Kaba starting Midtjylland’s Europa League match this week would suggest he has a future there, but he has less than 12 months remaining on his contract and the addition of another strong forward in Cho Gue-sung this summer suggests he still won’t be a regular starter.

His current club will have to juggle European and domestic competitions, which could mean more game-time, but this is the last chance for Midtjylland to potentially cash in on Kaba whilst they still can, as at best, he will be third in command up-front.

With West Brom’s finances unclear, it may be a case of having to loan him with an obligation to buy next summer, but if they could stump up the cash to take him permanently, then ever better.

How would Sory Kaba fit in at West Brom?

With Carlos Corberan favouring a one-striker system, game-time would have to be shared if Kaba signed and he was competing with Dike and Thomas-Asante.

There are too many risks attached to trusting Dike though, because of his injury record, so Corberan needs a player with a similar skill-set to come in and rotate with the USA international.

Kaba can play the target man role with his strength and size, standing at 6 ft 3 in, but he can also play off the shoulder of the defender and break offside traps as well.

With just one year remaining on his contract, Kaba should not cost too much on a permanent deal and, with Championship experience now under his belt, a pursuit by West Brom is a no-brainer if they want to add goals to their front-line.