Best youngsters at West Bromwich Albion

A look at The Baggies and their standout young players.

Transcript

00:00Looking at West Bromwich Albion, the youngster situation at the club now, it's no secret

00:08that their financial issues have been told and that the owners haven't been the best

00:14at investing through the club. They are going to have to rely sometimes on young players

00:20to come through and make a big impact. We'll get on to the fact that Aston Villa have had

00:26a big hold over some of their youngsters over the past few seasons, but in terms of

00:31youngsters in their current crop, who sort of stands out?

00:35There are a couple that definitely stand out, one more so than others. Tom Fellows is probably

00:40the obvious one. Already this season a regular starter in the Championship, assisting plenty

00:45of goals, probably going to reach at least double figures by Christmas in that department.

00:50Someone who can take on defenders. He's quite tall as well, so he's not exactly shrugged

00:54off the ball too easily. Gets down to that byline, can cut the ball back, can cross

00:58it in, can dink it in. He's got a great variety of technique. There's a reason why West Brom

01:03had bids from him in the summer from Premier League clubs. They turned them down, offers

01:08of over £10 million. That kind of money would be so important in the baggy's current situation,

01:13but they want to keep hold of their best talent, homegrown talent as well. You can't really

01:17get much better than that. You're a football club, can you? And you have one of your academy

01:20stars doing so, so well. Could be one of the best players in the Championship in the next

01:24couple of years if West Brom aren't promoted. If they are, well, he's bound to stick around,

01:28isn't he? Because he can be with his boyhood club in the top flight. Another player I'm

01:33excited by, but not quite broken through just yet, is Harry Whitwell. Just 19 years of age,

01:39an attacking midfielder who is nearly averaging a goal a game in Premier League 2, which is

01:44the academy version of the Premier League. He's a very technical player, can find the

01:49back of the net pretty easily, as suggested by his goal record so far. He's had the odd

01:54involvement around the first team, and he's been in training with Carlos Corbijn's men,

01:58but he's yet to make too many appearances at a senior level. But he's one I expect in

02:02the next year or two to break through. And potentially even earlier, as we saw with Tom

02:07Fellows, just a couple of impressive performances could be enough to break into this baggy's

02:11team. So he's one of those. And as you mentioned, with the whole Aston Villa foothold at the

02:16club, it's become a bit of a running theme, isn't it? That West Brom, they have these

02:21youngsters breaking through in their academy, but before they can properly get into the

02:25first team, Aston Villa seem to pinch them. And now Morgan Rodgers didn't do that immediately.

02:31He went via Manchester City and Middlesbrough first, but he's one player that potentially

02:35got away from West Brom. He's got to be, isn't he? Now an England international, so skilful,

02:41so quick, so powerful on the ball. Can you just imagine him at West Brom this season?

02:46I mean, he was only at Middlesbrough, well, less than a year ago in the championship.

02:50Could have been at Albion. He could have potentially helped him get promoted and stayed

02:54at the club. So it's a bit depressing maybe for West Brom fans to hear that. But what

02:58could have been with Morgan Rodgers? What a player he's turning out to be.