West Bromwich Albion boss Valerien Ismael has admitted to the Express & Star that the club had worked for months in order to complete the signing of Daryl Dike. 

The American striker signed for the Baggies on Saturday in what was a permanent deal from Orlando City, thus seeing him link up with Ismael for the first time since the duo left their old club Barnsley.

Dike will now be expected to score the goals to fire the Midlands outfit to the Premier League, with his reputation having risen tenfold after hitting a rich vein of form for both the Tykes and Orlando in the past.

Speaking about the signing of the 21-year-old frontman recently, Ismael made the following admission:

"It was team work – we've been working on the deal over the past few months. 

"We prepared very well for the transfer. We recognised quickly that we have struggled to convert our chances and we knew we needed someone capable of scoring goals.

"If you look at the minute which players are scoring the goals, it’s a Fulham player, a Bournemouth player and a Blackburn player.

"We needed to do something and I think the game changer was the meeting with Mr Lai at the training ground. We spoke about the situation, we explained exactly what we needed, why we need it and our vision long-term."

Dike is set to take a little break out of playing before being given his West Brom debut, with the striker having only just finished a season in the MLS over in the United States.

The striker is tied to the club on a four and a half year deal and will be looking to hit the ground running as soon as he is ready to be involved.

The Verdict 

Ismael has been backed financially in the market so now he must deliver and get the club back to the top flight at the first opportunity.

Dike should help to solve their goalscoring issues in the long run and his arrival could help to galvanise some of the other players who have seen their form dip.

Add to the fact that this signing could also allow the Baggies to experiment with different formations and it appears it ticks a lot of the boxes on paper.

The pressure will now be on Dike to repeat the type of form that he showed at Barnsley last season.