West Brom must beat Middlesbrough to sign their biggest talent since Fellows

West Bromwich Albion faced a poor 2025/26 campaign due to their attempt to take the club to a new place with young managers and young signings.

Instead of relying on experienced ‘tournament proven’ players such as Jed Wallace and John Swift, the Baggies appointed Ryan Mason and went for younger players, such as George Campbell and Aune Heggebo.

Yes, the appointment of Mason and then Eric Ramsay was not planned, but James Morrison is now in charge and looks like the young coach he has been looking for.

The former Baggies midfielder lost two of his 13 games in charge of the club in the second half of the season, guiding the team to third place.

Now, instead of scrapping the club’s plans to take the team to a new place, Morrison must get on with the job and aim to take it to the next level.

Why West Brom must continue their youth recruitment campaign

West Brom have discovered some excellent young players in recent years. Heggebo, 24, and Isaac Price, 21, have both scored nine league goals this season.

They also brought Tom Fellows through their academy and he provided 14 Championship assists before his £10m move to Southampton in the summer of 2024.

One of the benefits of developing young players is that they have the opportunity to be sold for a profit in the future, as was the case with Fellows, which helps the club to finance further additions to the squad.

West Brom, therefore, must continue their youth recruitment campaign to gradually build a team that is constantly developing and improving, in the hope that they can build an outfit that wins promotion to the Championship.

Now, the Baggies are being linked with a star who could arrive at The Hawthorns as their biggest talent since letting Fellows leave the club last year.

West Brom could be signing their biggest talent since Tom Fellows

West Brom are one of a number of clubs, including Championship rivals Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, interested in signing Rangers’ Leon King on a free transfer.

Boro, of course, just lost the Championship final against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday, after the spygate drama, and will be one of the favorites for promotion under Kim Hellberg next term.

Now, the Baggies must push to beat them to signing King on a free transfer as he is an impressive young defender who could be their biggest talent since Fellows.

King spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Ayr United in the Scottish Championship and recorded an impressive 377 clearances in 26 games, an average of 14.5 per game.

For context, Nat Phillips and Chris Mepham have had 6.9 turnovers in the English Championship this season, while the former were 3.9 and 3.0.

King’s 14.5 turnovers per game are more than any West Brom player has managed this term, which speaks to how successful he is in winning the ball back for his team from a full-back position.

The 22-year-old star, who has been capped 11 times by Scotland at U21 level, is a special young talent who made a big breakthrough as a young player at Ibrox.

He made his debut as a 16-year-old under Steven Gerrard and made six Champions League appearances as an 18-year-old for Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the 2022/23 campaign, before injury halted his development in Scotland.

King has returned to playing regular football, as evidenced by his time at Ayr this season, and West Brom could help him get back on the road to becoming the big talent he promised to be when he first broke through at Rangers.

A player who was considered good enough to play regular Champions League minutes at the age of 18 has immense potential and would be a fantastic addition to this improving West Brom side under Morrison, adding quality and freshness to the defence.

King has the credentials, with his performances this season and his success at Rangers as a young player, to be the club’s biggest talent since Fellows at The Hawthorns.

That’s why they should beat Middlesbrough to his signing this summer, given more game time than Boro, who have Dael Fry and Adilson Malanda as centre-backs.