Mowbray could already have West Brom’s next Tom Fellows in “fantastic” teen

Suffering two defeats from three since returning to West Bromwich Albion as manager, it’s fair to say that the latest Tony Mowbray era hasn’t quite begun with a bang.

With the window closed, however, there are no more distractions when it comes to incomings or outgoings, meaning every shred of energy can now be put on ensuring the Baggies clinch another playoff spot in the Championship for the second season on the spin.

Whilst one of the window’s main highlights for the West Midlands side would see the notable addition of Adam Armstrong come in, another big plus was the fact homegrown product Tom Fellows didn’t suddenly depart the club at the final hour, with Premier League interest coming in once more for the 21-year-old.

Fellows’ importance at West Brom

This would have been a harsh blow to deal with at the death, considering Fellows is now a concrete part of the Baggies first team after his big breakout moment last campaign.

Indeed, the two-time England U21 international has a lot to thank Carlos Corberan for when it comes to his sharp rise at the Hawthorns, with the in-demand talent already up to 77 senior appearances for his boyhood employers.

The Spaniard would hand him 38 of those opportunities last campaign, with the electric Baggies number 31 never looking back from that point onwards, as he continues to go from strength to strength in the first-team spotlight.

This season alone, Fellows has accumulated a mightily impressive ten assists from 31 appearances, taking his overall goal contribution haul to a weighty 21 in the process.

Therefore, it might not come as a great shock to anyone that top-flight outfits have started to sniff about, with Everton even reportedly bidding £10m for Fellows’ services on deadline day.

Thankfully for Mowbray and Co, the 21-year-old winger has remained put at the Hawthorns, with another midfield star in the same ilk as Fellows already rising up the youth ranks.

West Brom’s next Fellows

This next starlet will hope one day he can strut his stuff with the same confidence and ease as Fellows manages in the senior fold, having already thoroughly impressed figures at the Championship club in the U21 set-up.

Whilst Harry Whitwell doesn’t line up down the right channel like his standout teammate, he has still shown this season performing in the Premier League 2 that he has a similar eye for a goal and an assist, just from a more central role on the pitch.

Whitwell’s career numbers at West Brom
Age bracket	Games played	Goals scored	Assists
U21s	45	9	4
U18s	19	1	1
First team	2	0	1
Sourced by Transfermarkt

This season in isolation for the U21s, Whitwell has managed to tally up an astounding five goals and two assists from eight games, giving Fellows’ equally as impressive numbers in the senior side a run for their money.

The “fantastic” teenage sensation – as he was once labelled by U23 coach Richard Beale – even has an assist in the men’s team to shout about from just two appearances, meaning it might not be too long before Mowbray decides to throw him into more first-team clashes to test him out.

The future looks immensely bright for the 19-year-old, who was nearly allowed to leave the Baggies during the window to gift him some vital loan experience, only for a move to never materialise.

That would further indicate that West Brom see a lot in the Oxford-born midfielder already, with it not completely out of the realms of possibility that Whitwell could be chucked into some league contests to follow by Mowbray, resulting in another Fellows-like arc beginning.