West Bromwich Albion, in hope of avoiding the drop back down to the Championship, were in need of a striker during the January transfer window.
A few names were mentioned, but the team, now managed by Sam Allardyce, decided to go for Mbaye Diagne, who arrived on loan from Galatasaray in Turkey.
However, the Baggies also had a look in France, with their name appearing alongside that of Boulaye Dia, also a target for West Ham, and Stéphane Bahoken.
The 28-year-old, who had a loan spell at St. Mirren in Scotland during the 2013-14 season, currently plays for Angers SCO in Ligue 1, and has scored five goals in 18 league appearances so far.
According to their director of football, Sébastien Larcier, West Brom were among the many teams after the striker, but the way the Baggies approached the whole affair left a lot to be desired.
He explained to Ouest-France: “Many clubs were just looking for loans with conditions that weren’t necessarily interesting for us or the player. I think about West Bromwich Albion with Stéphane Bahoken. They made contact, then no news, and then a new contact with nothing at the end of it”.
In the end, that’s exactly the type of deal Diagne arrived for, with claims that Galatasaray are still paying his wages, but Angers weren’t in that position.
With the club currently a comfortable eighth in Ligue 1, a good 15 points away from the relegation zone, it could also be that Bahoken didn’t want to leave his current position for a club struggling in the Premier League.
