I was overwhelmed by price tag - Ideye

Peter Hanson

I was overwhelmed by price tag - Ideye image

Brown Ideye admits his initial struggles at West Brom were due to the fact he was "overwhelmed" by becoming the club's record signing.

The Nigeria international was signed by former head coach Alan Irvine last July for a fee thought to be in the region of £10million.

Ideye initially struggled to make an impact at The Hawthorns and did not score his first Premier League goal until Boxing Day in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, leading to speculation that he would cut short his stay in the last transfer window.

However, the striker has looked revitalised under new boss Tony Pulis and scored four goals in three appearances across all competitions in the space of seven days last month, while a blossoming partnership with Saido Berahino has developed.

And Ideye stated that the criticism he received during his early days in England only spurred him on to prove his doubters wrong.

"I took a lot of time to adapt," he told The Daily Mail. "I was overwhelmed that I am the record signing. I put a lot of pressure on myself. People are not patient.

"The game doesn't turn out the way I want, I become frustrated, I keep on pushing when I am supposed to calm down. Things were going so fast.

"As for the social media, you can't expect everyone to like you. They will say what they want. I don't see what can shake me given what has happened before.

"It's inspiration. They are pushing me to my success. I like people criticising me.

"That one week turned out to be something I dreamt. I felt this day would come. Getting back to the Brown Ideye people know.

"One day the people who are saying, 'he's no good' are the same people who will say, 'don't let him go'."


 

Peter Hanson