In May 2017 West Brom’s assistant head coach Ben Garner headed to Germany, tasked with sounding out potential summer additions.



“I flew out to watch Mainz against Frankfurt to look at a couple of players that had been flagged,” Garner told The Athletic. “Jean-Philippe Gbamin wasn’t one of them but he was the one that caught my eye straight away. He could have only been 21 or 22 and was outstanding in the No 6 role in front of the defence.



“Physically he’s excellent: he’s very athletic, has got good speed, balance and strength. His positioning was very good. He broke up play, his tackling was strong. But he was also comfortable in possession – a very efficient passer, who moved it quickly.



“After 15 minutes, the pitch opened up and he broke forward with the ball, showing he could do that side of the game as well. For me, he just looked a really complete midfield player. At that time we were looking...