The 2008/09 season is not one that anybody of a West Bromwich Albion persuasion will want to remember in a hurry.
After securing promotion to the Premier League as Championship title winners, West Bromwich Albion struggled to establish themselves in the top-flight during the 2008/09 season.
Unfortunately, they finished the campaign at the bottom of the Premier League table, resulting in immediate relegation back to the second tier. Throughout the season, they only managed to win eight league games, with three of those victories coming in their first seven games. After this promising start, the rest of the campaign became a challenging and grueling experience for West Brom.
This period would have undoubtedly been difficult for everyone associated with the club, and Borja Valero, in particular, did not have a standout performance during this time.
West Brom move for Borja Valero did not pay off
After earning promotion to the Premier League, West Bromwich Albion signed several new players during the summer of 2008. One notable addition was Borja Valero, who joined the club from La Liga side Mallorca on a four-year deal.
This transfer saw West Brom break their then transfer record, reportedly spending £4.7 million to secure the services of the Spanish midfielder.
The investment in Valero didn’t yield positive results for West Brom. He had difficulty settling in England as the club faced relegation, managing no goals and only three assists in 36 appearances across all competitions.
What followed afterward is unlikely to improve how he’s remembered at The Hawthorns either.
Borja Valero did not stick around in the event of West Brom’s relegation
Following West Brom’s relegation from the Premier League, Valero expressed his desire to return to Mallorca rather than play in the Championship during the summer of 2009.
His wish was fulfilled on the final day of the transfer window that summer when he joined Mallorca on loan for the 2009/10 season.
Although the loan deal was temporary, Valero never returned to play for West Brom.
Subsequently, he spent the 2010/11 season on loan at Villarreal, a move that became permanent in the summer of 2011 for an undisclosed fee.
After completing that move, Valero spent another year in Spain, before making the move to Italy when he joined Fiorentina in 2012.
He would spent several years with I Viola, before heading elsewhere in Serie A in 2017, with a move to Inter Milan.
Just as he had done in La Liga following his departure from West Brom, Valero did impress during his time with those two Italian clubs.
| Borja Valero’s Career Stats – As Per Transfermarkt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Real Madrid Castilla | 80 | 5 | 0 |
| Real Madrid | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mallorca | 78 | 9 | 15 |
| West Brom | 36 | 0 | 3 |
| Villarreal | 97 | 11 | 18 |
| Fiorentina | 231 | 17 | 45 |
| Inter Milan | 100 | 5 | 0 |
Valero would even enjoy runs to a couple of cup finals during his time in Italy, and with the midfielder performing well at top-flight level with those clubs, some West Brom faithful may be questioning why he was unable to do the same at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies were relegated by just three points during the 2008/09 season, and so had Valero been able to make the sort of impact at those other clubs, things may have worked out differently for West Brom, allowing them to get a better return on their investment in Valero.
As it is, they did not, and so that combined with the way he made his desire to leave clear in the wake of relegation, means it is hard to imagine Valero ever really being a popular figure at The Hawthorns again.
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Aondofa Vershima 
Jonathan Jonathan