Ex-West Brom star could come back to haunt them after Ipswich Town news: View | OneFootball

Injury news at Ipswich Town could make way for ex-West Brom winger Jeremy Sarmiento to pick up a starting place at Portman Road, and he may come back to haunt his former club.

Sarmiento spent the first half of the season on loan with the Baggies from parent club Brighton & Hove Albion, before being recalled at the start of 2024 and being dispatched to the Tractor Boys in January.

The 21-year-old has found starts difficult to come by at his new temporary club, but an injury development at the Suffolk club may afford him greater opportunities for the final run-in.

With both Championship clubs currently in the play-off places and aiming for promotion to the Premier League, the Midlands side may regret that they were unable to hold onto the young star for the remainder of the campaign, should he end up having decisive moments in the battle.

His time at the Hawthorns was not the most productive for a creative player, picking up two goals and no assists in 21 appearances for the club.

Many of the Ecuador international's appearances came from the bench during his West Brom stint, leading some to suggest that this may have been a factor in Brighton's early recall of their young prospect.

Whatever the reason, just days after his recall, Sarmiento was on his way to fellow promotion rivals Ipswich, where a slight boost in productivity, potentially now with a point to prove, has seen him pick up three goals and two assists in just 14 appearances.

Injuries may now give the young winger a real chance

West Brom may not have been too worried about the situation coming back to bite them on seeing that the majority of Sarmiento's appearances at Portman Road were also coming from the bench.

However, that could be about to change with the untimely injury to Wes Burns, who suffered a hamstring injury in the Tractor Boys' 6-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday and has since had to withdraw from international duty with Wales.

Burns predominately operates on the right flank, meaning Sarmiento may need to move over from his traditional left-wing spot, but this is a role he has played in his career before and will likely want to play anywhere if it means more first-team minutes.

He could come back to haunt West Brom in their promotion hopes

Although it has been a useful season for the 21-year-old, he will certainly be entering the final part of this campaign feeling like he has a point to prove, having spent more time than he would have liked on the bench during both loan spells.

That may fire him to some inspired performances, but what may worry Baggies fans more is the potential that the two clubs meet in the play-offs.

If Sarmiento has a point to prove based on this season, he certainly has a point to prove against his former loan club.

His departure from the Hawthorns was amicable, wishing the squad and fans well on his departure, but he would surely like nothing more than to make those at the club wish they had put more faith in him and potentially kept him for the whole season.

Were he to have a decisive moment in a play-off battle against his former side, it would make a painful situation for West Brom that little bit worse.

Players tend to have a knack for turning up against former clubs, especially ones where the player perhaps feels like they didn't give the best account of themselves.