West Brom the ‘right move’ insists loanee Jeremy Sarmiento
West Brom beat off interest from a number of clubs to land Brighton winger Jeremy Sarmiento – who insisted choosing Albion was the ‘right move’.
Albion made the Ecuador wide man their first summer signing earlier this week – as he penned a season-long loan deal at The Hawthorns.
Speaking for the first time since arriving at the club, Sarmiento revealed there were a number of options on the table but he made his call after a conversation with Baggies boss Carlos Corberan.
An an interview on the club’s websitesaid: “We knew for a while West Brom were interested, especially Carlos.
“He spoke to my Dad who is my agent and then I spoke to him and we just clicked straight away.
“I like the style he plays, I am always hungry for the team and I felt like West Brom was the right move.
“There were many others interested but I knew the right place was here.
“Not just to come and get minutes but to do something for the team and who knows, get to the Premier League which is the main thing.”
Sarmiento appeared for his country at the 2022 World Cup – but suffered an injury at the end of last season.
He also revealed reason he came to Albion was due to Corberan having confidence in him after an injury – and he believes the Spaniard can get the best out of him.
He added: “I had a conversation with Carlos and it played a big part in why I came here.
“The main thing was him having confidence with me, he said he would look after me after my past injury and he will get the best out of me.
“That is what you want as a player, to get the best out of you and be interested in you and to get better as a player.
“I spoke to a few of the lads and they said the gaffer was amazing, so everything was easy to come here.”
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Szczecin skipper Grosicki, who has also earned 88 caps for Poland, calmly converted a 13th-minute penalty after Matthew Clarke had brought down Luka Zahovic as the Slovenian ran through on goal following his own defensive mistake before Joao Gamboa poked home from a Grosicki corner to send the Polish outfit into half-time with a 2-0 lead.
Linfield got themselves back into the tie when Daniel Finlayson pounced in the 55th minute after opposing goalkeeper Dante Stipica fumbled Kirk Millar’s cross, but they were two goals behind once again moments later as Mariusz Malec rifled in from close range.
A devastating move – started and finished by striker Efthymios Koulouris – was another blow before Ben Hall’s stunning 80th minute volley gave them a glimmer of hope only for Grosicki to produce a pass across goal for Mariusz Fornalczyk in the dying moments to give Linfield a mountain to climb in Poland next Thursday.
The visitors wasted no time in proving their class and were visibly a step up in quality from first-round opponents Vllaznia, zipping the ball around early on and almost found themselves with a scoring opportunity only for Chris Shields’ timely intervention.
Shields – playing in his 51st European club game – was a steady presence in midfield during a nervy opening period and despite falling behind, David Healy’s side grew into the game and started to dominate proceedings.
It was always going to be an uphill task but Linfield were again on the front foot at the start of the second-half and had two chances within seconds of each other – firstly from a superb Millar cross that no Blues player could get on the end of before Matthew Fitzpatrick failed to connect with Daniel Finlayson’s ball over the top in the aftermath.
The Blues did get their deserved goal when Stipica dropped Millar’s free-kick delivery and Finlayson – back in the side after missing last week’s tie in Albania through suspension – produced a fine finish into the top corner.
Linfield looked to have an equaliser shortly after as Chris McKee’s shot across goal was palmed into Fitzpatrick’s path by Stipica, but the summer signing was adjudged to be offside.
Healy’s men were made to pay from another Grosicki set-piece in the 62nd minute as Malec smashed home from close range after a superb point-blank Johns save and Kouloruis extended the margin by finishing off a sweeping move.
The home side continued to push and were rewarded for that persistence when Fitzpatrick chested Millar’s cross to centre-back Hall, who fired his volley emphatically past Stipica.
Millar thought he had clawed another back in the 87th minute only for it to be ruled out with a late offside call on Fitzpatrick and Fornalczyk produced what is likely a hammer blow to Linfield’s European dream by scoring in the dying seconds.
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