West Brom’s star player against West Ham, Nacer Chadli had a more difficult time impacting the game against Stoke City, with West Brom only managing a draw against Mark Hughes’ men.
The Belgian, who was bought by Tony Pulis from Tottenham, gave an interview to Het Nieuwsblad ahead of the game, discussing his arrival at his new club, his former teammates and the Belgian national team.
With two goals and two assists to his name in three league games since his arrival, it’s fair to say the 27-year-old has settled in nicely at West Brom, but he still had to ask one of his friends if the move was the right one for him.
He explained: “I spoke to Romelu Lukaku the day before I signed. He was there one year and said he was very happy, that there are good fans, a decent stadium and the training centre was cool. I also trained with Sébastien Pocognoli before moving to Brighton.
“He didn’t play a lot there in 2.5 years, but said many positive things. West Brom is a family club, and Birmingham is a pleasant city to live in.”
Lukaku spent a season at West Bromwich Albion on loan back during the 2012-13 season, and showed the world what he was capable of achieving in the Premier League by scoring 17 goals and picking up seven assists in 35 league games, including a hat trick against Manchester United on the last day of the season.
Nacer Chadli also described his first encounter with Hal Robson-Kanu, brought in by West Brom on transfer deadline day, whose goal against Belgium in the Euros knocked out Marc Wilmots’ side.
He said: “I told him bluntly that he has broken my heart. He made a joke. I think he’s a good player. Hopefully he will help us score goals this season.”
We’re pretty sure that if he ends up scoring another Cruyff turn goal, this time for West Brom, Chadli won’t be minding too much.
