Middlesbrough, Aston Villa deal must seriously frustrate West Brom: View | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion will look to maintain a promotion push back to the Premier League at the third attempt.

The Baggies have had their fortunes transformed since the arrival of Carlos Corberan in October last year, with the Spaniard taking the Black Country from the foot of the second tier table to play-off contention last campaign.

Albion continue to fight towards the top end of the division this term under the former Huddersfield Town coach, with the West Brom supporters dreaming of top-flight football once again despite concerning off-field issues.

Over the years, West Brom have sanctioned the exits of multiple academy players away from The Hawthorns, with some of these decisions proving to be costly.

The latest example is of Finn Azaz, who joined the Baggies at the age of nine.

The attacking midfielder has recently made the switch to Teesside with Middlesbrough after two impressive loan stints at Plymouth Argyle.

This has seen Michael Carrick’s men snap up the 23-year-old on a permanent transfer at the beginning of the new year, and another unsuccessful sale is sure to frustrate the Albion faithful over what could have been.

Azaz originally joined the Pilgrams back in 2022 and was a key component to their promotion out of League One back to the second tier.

The Republic of Ireland youth international recorded eight goals and nine assists from 34 appearances, despite receiving only 2,078 minutes of league action.

This term would see the London-born playmaker remain at Home Park for the beginning of the season, and Azaz would go on to play yet another crucial role in a fight to retain their Championship status.

With a significant increase in game-time, Azaz registered seven goals and five assists from 26 league encounters, with the majority of his brilliance coming on home soil.

The breakthrough of Azaz’s career undoubtedly makes West Brom supporters imagine what he could have added to Corberan’s side now, with the club in desperate need of a creative force in the final third as John Swift continues to be plagued by a calf problem.

West Brom academy player departures

As previously mentioned, this isn’t the first time Albion have let promising youth players slip through their fingers.

Going on to have success in the Championship alongside Azaz, have been Morgan Rogers and Marcus Forss for Boro, while Sam Field and Tim Iroegbunam made their presence known for Queens Park Rangers.

Chris Wood adds to the growing list and has found himself as a source of goals for the likes of Burnley, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

This campaign, the Baggies have a number of talented players emerging through the youth ranks once again, and this was demonstrated through their inclusion in the matchday squad in their FA Cup third-round victory over Aldershot Town.

Josh Griffiths, Caleb Taylor, Fenton Heard, Jovan Malcolm and Tom Fellows all received starts while appearances from the substitutes bench were made by Harry Whitwell, Akeel Higgins, Layton Love and Josh Shaw.

It’s imperative Albion tie down as many of these players as possible to long-term contracts and allow them to develop either in the first team or away from the club on loan for a short period.

This is all dependent on West Brom’s takeover successfully going through before the end of the month, but lessons need to be learned from the past if the Black Country outfit are going to get the best out of their academy setup.