Slaven Bilic: Matheus Pereira deal is great business for West Brom

Now widely seen as the best player in the Championship, Pereira has been a revelation since joining the Baggies on a temporary basis from Sporting Lisbon in August.

Albion have always planned to make his loan move permanent.

But if he is named in Bilic’s line-up for today’s clash with Blues – Pereira will have started 30 Championship games, triggering a clause meaning Albion have to buy him.

“Is it a bargain – what does bargain mean?” Bilic said when asked about Pereira’s fee. “That was his price.

“He wasn’t a known player before.

“I have many friends in Germany and I knew him from there, from Nuremberg.

“He played in the Bundesliga and got relegated while on loan from Sporting.

“I saw a player that not only had Brazilian and Portuguese skill but also character, physicality, determination and personality.

“That is why we wanted him so much.

“That was his price then. Now it looks like a bargain. But why? Because he hit the ground great.

“We are delighted with him. It looks like an extremely great deal.”

Following a three month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, Albion resume their push for the Premier League today.

And Bilic admits there was a time when he feared the 2019/20 campaign would not be able to resume.

“In the beginning it was tough, not only football-wise but in general,” the Croatian said when assessing the last few months.

“The whole world was in shock.

“The situation wasn’t improving and when I thought about football coming back I thought ‘no way, no chance.’

“In the beginning it didn’t look very likely.

“Then suddenly, what was it three or three-and-a-half weeks ago, when it started in Germany and when the situation in general started to improve – then suddenly it was like ‘oh my God it’s very likely.’

“It happened in less than a week’s time.

“From having no chance to ‘yeah, yeah, yeah – we are going to play.’

“You felt that with the players as well.

“At the beginning I wasn’t optimistic. I hoped it would return but I wasn’t optimistic.

“Then all of a sudden, there was the resumption of the Bundesliga which I think was massive for the whole of Europe.”