The Baggies have a great history of producing young talent with their academy setup formerly known as one of the best in the country. They’ve seen a number of youngsters head to neighbouring clubs and we’re looking at just why that is and how they can prevent it in the future.
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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. Obviously, we'll get on to the fact that Aston Villa
00:25have had a big hold over some of their youngsters over the past few seasons, but in terms of
00:31youngsters in their current crop, who 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 it
00:59in, 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 baggage 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. You can find the back of the net pretty easily,
01:48as suggested by his goal record so far. He's had the odd involvement around the first team
01:53and he's been in training with Carlos Calderon's men, but he's yet to make too many appearances
01:58at a senior level. But he's one I expect in the next year or two to break through. Potentially
02:03even earlier, as we saw with Tom Fellowes, just a couple of impressive performances could
02:07be enough to break into this baggies team. So he's one of those. And as you mentioned
02:12with the whole Aston Villa foothold at the club, it's become a bit of a running theme,
02:17isn't it? That West Brom, they have these youngsters breaking through in their academy,
02:21but before they can properly get into the first team, Aston Villa seem to pinch them.
02:26Now Morgan Rodgers didn't do that immediately. He went via Manchester City and Middlesbrough
02:31first, but he's one player that potentially got away from West Brom. He's got to be, isn't
02:36he? Now an England international, so skilful, so quick, so powerful on the ball. Can you
02:41just imagine him at West Brom this season? I mean, he was only at Middlesbrough, well,
02:46less than a year ago in the championship. That could have been at Albion. He could have
02:49potentially helped them get promoted and stayed at the club. So it's a bit depressing
02:54maybe for West Brom fans to hear that, but what could have been with Morgan Rodgers?
02:58What a player he's turning out to be.