Club News

Stat attack on new trio

Get the lowdown on Sessegnon, Anichebe and Amalfitano from last season

OUR friends over at football stats website WhoScored.com give us the lowdown on our new boys after a busy final day of the transfer window.

Transfer deadline day can often be a dull time for clubs who have little or no success at the close of the window, but not so for the Baggies this year.

It was a busy one at The Hawthorns, with attacking trio Morgan Amalfitano, Victor Anichebe and Stéphane Sessegnon among those joining the club, and here we take a look at their vital statistics.

Sessegnon enters his third season in the Barclays Premier League, and after two successful campaigns at Sunderland he has built himself a reputation one of the league's more dangerous attackers.

He followed up 7 goals and 9 assists in his debut season with 7 more goals and 3 assists in a Black Cats side that at times struggled for goals last campaign. Able to play in behind a striker or out wide, he is a versatile, tricky player who can both score and create.

Having dribbled past an opposing player on 59 occasions last season, only 6 players did so more in the whole top flight, including the likes of Luis Suárez and Santi Cazorla, while defenders often had to resort to cheap tactics to halt the Benin international - no player was fouled more times than Sessegnon (89) in the Barclays Premier League last season.

He is always likely to cause opposition defences trouble, creating chances for someone like Shane Long, or newly signed Anichebe, he should become yet more of a threat.

Anichebe moves to The Hawthorns having come through the youth ranks at Everton and on the back of his most successful season as a footballer.

Injury has limited his first team chances for years now, but he looks to have overcome those issues, having made 26 league appearances last term, his second highest tally after the 27 he made in 2007/08.

He also had his most prolific in front of goal, netting 6 times and assisting 4 more as he earned a regular run in the first team at Goodison Park.

In that run, he started half of Everton's games last season, and the Toffees won 47.4% of those matches, compared to 36.8% without the Nigerian. The Blues’ loss is perhaps the Baggies’ gain.

Previously, Anichebe had announced himself on the scene with impressive performances from the bench. In fact, since August 2010, only Dzeko (12), Hernández (11) and Le Fondre (8) have scored more Premier League goals from the bench than Anichebe (6), who is clearly one of those players that you can expect an impact from whether he starts or joins the game as a substitute.

Amalfitano joins on loan, with a view to a permanent deal, having just helped Marseille qualify for the Champions League with a second-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season, behind only big-spending Paris Saint Germain.

Amalfitano featured regularly on the right wing, creating 30 chances and having 30 shots, while starting 20 matches.

That came playing in a Marseille side that scored only 42 goals all season - only 6 teams in Ligue 1 scored fewer.

Albion came 8th in the Barclays Premier League and scored 11 more goals than Amalfitano's parent club, so he could well manage more assists with different goalscorers to provide for.

*WhoScored.comis a unique website and one of the fastest growing in the sports industry, specialising in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data. Provided with unique stats, they compile and create comprehensive analysis on the major European divisions, including live match stats and player ratings. Follow @WhoScored and their editor-in-chief @alitweedale on Twitter.