Slaven Bilic has admitted that he decided against signing Watford prospect Domingos Quina on Deadline Day after another deal broke down.
Speaking to The Express and Star, the Croatian manager confessed that the Portugal youth international was an option for the club, however, a deal that would have seen club captain Christ Brunt depart for Stoke City collapsed, killing any prospect of Quina joining West Brom in January.
Bilic said: “Quina was an option but only if one of our players was leaving. There was a possibility that one of our players would go and one more. And for one I said okay, and the other I said no, no way. Then maybe we would have got Domingos. But because that transfer did not happen it would not be fair to player to bring him in but for him not to be involved as much as he deserves to be.”
Once compared by West Ham coaches as a player with similar technical qualities as Real Madrid star Luca Modric as revealed in an interview with The Sun, it is easy to understand why Bilic was keen to bring Quina to the Hawthorns, with the West Brom boss once managing the Portuguese youngster in their brief time together in east London as stats from Transfermarkt show.
And with Bilic seemingly having one eye on potential life in the Premier League next season with West Brom currently sitting top of the Championship table, Quina could have been a potentially good signing for the Baggies as well as a replacement for Brunt, who this campaign has seen minimal game time with the Albion as per stats from WhoScored.
Bilic, on the surface, doesn’t seem too fazed with missing out on a deal to sign Quina for the remainder of the season, but going forward, West Brom could have benefitted from a player of the youngster’s quality, who may potentially have been open to a move to the Championship giants with the Portuguese prospect hardly featuring for Watford this season as stats from Transfermarkt show.
The 20-year-old midfielder could have found regular first-team football at West Brom for the second half of the season, but with West Brom failing to secure a deal with Watford for Quina, a second shot at the midfielder could be on the cards when the summer window opens for business.
West Brom fans, will Bilic regret not deciding to sign Quina? Let us know!
