2009/10 to 2017/18

West Bromwich Albion spent eight of the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League and one in the Championship. Their best finish was 8th, in 2012/13. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £120.8m in transfer fees and took in £21.7m, a net spend of £99.2m.

West Bromwich Albion came up as Championship runners-up in 2009/10 and spent the next eight seasons proving they belonged. Eighth in 2012/13, with 49 points, was the high-water mark. Most other years ended between tenth and 17th, safe without ever really threatening Europe.

Then, in 2017/18, it all went wrong. Albion had spent their biggest sums yet, on Oliver Burke from RB Leipzig and Jay Rodriguez from Southampton, after Nacer Chadli and Salomón Rondón in earlier summers, and still finished bottom with 31 points.

Albion's transfer history has one nagging what-if. Borja Valero left for Villarreal for £5m in 2010 and went on to a long career in Serie A. On 115.football, with £900m, he stays, the 2012/13 side is reinforced rather than recycled, and the slow fade towards the drop is replaced by a push for European football.