“Missing out” - Aston Villa highlighted as key reason for West Brom regret | OneFootball

West Brom have seen many academy players leave for Aston Villa in the past five years.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

West Brom have enjoyed a fantastic start to the season, with Carlos Corberan’s side sitting top of the Championship at this early stage.

After a bleak few years, the appointment of Corbern helped transform things on the pitch, and Shilen Patel’s takeover has lifted the mood of the whole club.

All connected to the Baggies will feel a bright future lies ahead, and one of the targets for the owner will be to ensure Albion benefit from their exciting academy.

Aston Villa cause West Brom academy woes

Tom Fellows is starring for Albion at the moment, having come through the ranks, but there could have been many more in recent years to make that step up, if it wasn’t for bitter rivals Aston Villa.

Having poached academy manager Mark Harrison in 2019, Villa have raided Albion for their best youth prospects, with over a dozen making the switch directly.

Furthermore, other Albion academy graduates, such as Louie Barry and Morgan Rogers, have ended up at Villa Park via other clubs.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that fan pundit Callum explained to FLW that Villa ripping apart the academy has to be a big regret for the club, as they’ve missed out on youngsters who could not only make their mark on the pitch, but also a lot of money through sales.

“Probably the biggest regret in the last few years would be the events that led to the amount of youth players leaving the club for Aston Villa.

“Staff left the club following Luke Dowling’s tenure, which saw Villa pick up several staff members from West Brom, who have then brought in so many good youth players that the club have lost out on.

“The biggest names that come to mind are Tim Iroegbunam, who is now at Everton. When he did leave Albion, he had just won the Academy Player of the Season award, so there would have been high hopes for him to make the first-team, but unfortunately he didn’t, and he now looks a very decent Premier League player with Everton.

“There’s also Morgan Rogers who is playing for them now, via Man City, so we did get a decent fee for him.

“Then, there is Finn Azaz who went to Villa, spent some seasons out on loan, and he is now a good player for Middlesbrough. He would be competing with John Swift at the moment, and he’s probably around the same level.

“So, there’s several cases of Albion missing out on profiting from these players, and they would also have made an impact on the first-team.”

West Brom must continue to develop talent

This has been a huge source of frustration for West Brom fans in recent years, and it’s easy to see why, as they could have had some real talents breaking into the first-team.

But, it’s not all bad news, as it shows that Albion are doing something right when it comes to the coaching and development they provide to players, and that will make them an attractive option to players.

Clearly, they need to change things to ensure that Villa don’t continue cherry-picking their best players, and whether it’s financial or offering a clearer pathway to the XI, something needs to change.

With a stable manager, and a new owner, Albion will hope to see those changes come into practice, and the emergence of Fellows is proof that Corberan will give youngsters an opportunity if they are good enough.