How Alfie Gilchrist's Sheffield United Championship loan spell went - as £1.2m West Brom signing waits for first start
Alfie Gilchrist's game time at West Brom has so far been limited - having arrived at the club late in the January transfer window.
The 21-year-old defender joined Albion just days before the window slammed shut - in a £1.2m move from Chelsea.
The youngster, who began as a central defender but has featured for both Chelsea and Sheffield United as a right back - joined Albion on the back of spending a season with the Blades.
In total he made 32 appearances in all competitions during that spell - which came on the back of a handful of appearances for the Chelsea first team.
But in the summer they decided to move him on, with Albion making their move following the sale of Darnell Furlong to Ipswich Town.
The ex-Chelsea man did make his debut off the bench against Norwich - and asked about Gilchrist after the game, the Albion boss insisting the 21-year-old will play 'a lot of games this season'.
He has also previously stated that Gilchrist was getting up to speed following his late move.
He has already spent a season in the Championship - so how did that go for the former Chelsea youngster?
A solid start - but injuries and signings
Gilchrist's first full campaign in the Championship began as well as he could have hoped.
Quickly after making the switch to the Blades last summer, he became a regular and from the beginning of the campaign to around the end of March, he was Chris Wilder's first choice right back.
Then from January onwards, a combination of injuries and new signings coming in from elsewhere played a part in Gilchrist featuring just twice between the end of January and May.
The Blades turned to signing Harry Clarke and also brought Hamza Chowdhary, a central midfielder, to play at right back after arriving on loan from Leicester City.
It was a similar situation to the one at Albion right now, with George Campbell, a central defender by trade, featuring at right back in the side.
Gilchrist's last appearance for the Blades was on May 3 - and he did not feature in any of the play-off games before he departed for Chelsea.
According to some reports last season, Gilchrist's omission from the Blades squad for the second half of the campaign was a mixture of a groin injury he picked up - but also EFL red tape.
The Blades had already made a number of loan signings in the summer and added to that in January. However, only five are allowed to be named in matchday squads, with the Albion man the one who continued to miss out.
But he had done enough at right back during the first half of the season and during his Chelsea appearances, to attract plenty of interest.
Reports stated there was interest from overseas but also from a host of Championship sides with Albion winning the race to bring him in.
