"West Brom will need the money" - Exclusive: Lee Hendrie makes Tom Fellows claim as Everton circle | OneFootball

The Sky Sports pundit feels that a £10 million offer may be too good to turn down

Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on Everton's interest in exciting West Brom winger Tom Fellows.

And if the rumoured deal of £10 million, as reported by TEAMtalk, is set to be true, then Hendrie believes that it will only be a matter of time before Fellows plays in the Premier League.

The 21-year-old excelled in what was truly a breakout year at the Hawthorns last season, finishing level with Josh Murphy atop the Championship assist charts with 14, and it's this creativity which is attracting sides such as Everton.

Fellows was close to joining Everton in January, but a deadline-day deal fell through due to both clubs failing to agree a deal, with the Baggies still hopeful of being a Premier League club themselves in the 2025/26 campaign at the time.

Now, with an eight-figure fee floating around, Hendrie feels that now might be the time to cash in on the winger, despite it being a tough decision to make.

It'd be hard to keep Tom Fellows if £10 million bid surfaces, according to Lee Hendrie

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Lee Hendrie weighed up the pros and cons of selling Tom Fellows for £10 million.

The former Aston Villa midfielder feels that the club might be heading in the right direction after hiring Ryan Mason to be their new manager, but he also feels that he may be dealt an early blow in losing his most creative outlet.

"It's hard as West Brom will need the money to bring players in," Hendrie said.

"They're a club that has been standing still for quite some time now, and they're trying to find a formula to move forward again, and hopefully, Ryan Mason will find that for them.

"But when you get the likes of £10 million in the Championship, it'll be hard to keep hold of him given how well he's developed as a player so far and gone and kicked on.

"When bids get touted around from Premier League clubs, you find that it's inevitable what happens next."

Losing Tom Fellows would be a huge blow for Ryan Mason and West Brom

After picking up 18 goal involvements for a West Brom side who faded away towards the end of the season and were largely disappointing, Fellows truly has the chance to be one of the Championship's better players next season.

Therefore, it would be an even bigger loss if he were to depart West Brom this summer.

The England U-21 international already has over 100 senior appearances in his short career so far, and would provide that creative spark that Everton have been deprived of for a few seasons now.

There will be a small positive in the amount of money West Brom will bring in for him, with a large chunk of it being able to be reinvested into players Ryan Mason wants to bring in and play in his system.

But the young manager would have most definitely wanted Tom Fellows to be a part of that system. In the end, the former Tottenham coach may be resigned to prepare for life without their star come August.