Daryl Dike: West Brom move an easy decision to make

The US international has been a long term target of manager Valerian Ismael - and last month the Express and Star exclusively revealed that Dike has the Baggies number one priority in the January transfer window.

It was thought Albion would look to bring Dike in on loan with the view to a permanent deal - however, on Saturday the club confirmed the forward had penned a four and a half year deal at The Hawthorns.

Speaking for the first time since being unveiled as a West Brom player - Dike insisted that as soon as he heard of the club's interest it was an easy decision to make.

He told the club's website: “I’m absolutely delighted to finally be here.

“It’s been a really busy week. I was visiting my family before making the move over.

“It’s good to be finally settled in in terms of starting training, getting an apartment sorted and other stuff like that.

“It was an easy decision for sure when I heard about the club’s interest in me.

“It’s always been in my head to be over here in England. Growing up I have always dreamed of playing here, especially at a club like this with history, the manager and the opportunity to go up to the Premier League. There were so many different factors for me that made the decision a lot easier.

“I’ve already had so much support on social media from the fans. So many people have welcomed me, and that’s absolutely incredible.

“To be at the stadium on Sunday and see the fans clapping and cheering me made me feel so welcome and I’m so excited to be out there.

“I like to do the work for the other players in the team. I like to do things such as making runs and holding up the ball. Even defensively I am happy to help out.

“But I’m a striker and I want to score goals and I want to win games. I’m a big competitor. I’ll do anything I can to try and get the results.

“Every player wants to be around other competitors. Just being here for a few days, I can already see the level and how much people want to compete.”