West Brom battle Ipswich to sign biggest talent since Fellows

The tempo of change within the Championship stays really outstanding and West Bromwich Albion are extra conscious of that than anybody else.

For instance, trying again on the 2023/24 season, the Baggies completed in a decent fifth place and made it to the play-offs, with Ipswich City and Leicester Metropolis robotically promoted.

Simply two years on, Leicester are closing in on League One, Ipswich are as soon as once more on the point of a Premier League spot and West Brom narrowly averted relegation following failed experiments with Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsey.

With James Morrison on the helm, the Midlands facet can begin to construct themselves up once more, with a slew of personnel modifications prone to be crucial at first-team stage.

Certainly, the sale of 23-year-old Tom Fellows continues to be prone to damage the Baggies, with the struggling facet nonetheless making an attempt to fill the void left by younger Tom Fellows a yr in the past.

Why Fellowes stays a giant miss for the Baggies

Fellows, who was named West Brom’s Younger Participant of the Yr in each the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, turned a real shining gentle after breaking by way of the youth ranks, though his absence was nonetheless keenly felt.

Final season specifically was an actual breakout yr for the Birmingham-born winger, who began all 35 video games within the Championship, scoring 4 targets and offering 14 assists.

Arguably the artistic middle of the Hawthorns, Fellows created 13 ‘massive possibilities’ in whole, averaged 1.4 key passes per sport, recorded a formidable return contemplating he solely misplaced the ball a mean of seven.4 occasions, and boasted a formidable passing accuracy of 87%.

For comparability, no participant within the Baggies group reached double figures for assists in 2025/26, with Mikey Johnston main the best way on this regard with 9 assists.

The previous Celtic man additionally led the membership by way of ‘massive possibilities’ created (11) and key passes per sport (1.6), though he was solely forward of Fellows within the latter metric.

Johnston’s personal future is at the moment up for debate, with the Baggies beforehand pressured to promote Fellows to Southampton in an £8m deal to adjust to PSR laws.

Though Morrison and his group have been lastly in a position to signal a promising winger on their very own switch this summer season, it should be mentioned that it proved to be a crucial however irritating sale.

West Brom might signal largest expertise since Fellows forward of Ipswich

As reported earlier this week, West Brom are simply one of many golf equipment which have registered an curiosity in Huddersfield City sensation Cameron Assia, suggesting talks are going down over a possible switch.

In addition to Southampton and Sheffield United, Ipswich are additionally on the checklist, as are Celtic and Rangers, with Assia set to signal for simply £500,000 after receiving a 12-month contract extension.

Nonetheless solely 21 years previous, the quick-footed expertise has obtained rave critiques after a promising breakout season in League One, and his potential is so nice that he has been in comparison with Manchester Metropolis star Jeremy Doku.

It hasn’t been a straightforward path for the teenager to succeed in this stage, as Asia was launched by Derby County in 2023 and didn’t be part of the Terriers till April 2024, initially lining up with the membership’s ‘B’ group.

Whereas there’s a lot to be enthusiastic about, as evidenced by the extent of curiosity in him, he must bide his time as he has solely began 4 league video games in 2025/26.

Usually positioned on the left facet but in addition comfy within the middle or proper facet, the Assia is actually as versatile because the Fellows, but boasts a reassuring finish product to match.

Actually, regardless of solely showing in 21 league video games this season and averaging 32 minutes per sport, he undoubtedly made essentially the most of his possibilities, scoring three targets and helping every.

This isn’t far off from Fellows’ personal report in 2023/24, when he solely registered two assists the yr earlier than, when he was on mortgage in League Two with Crawley City.

He is undoubtedly grown since then, and there isn’t any motive why the Doc-esque Assia cannot get pleasure from an analogous rise. There’s rather a lot to love about his fearless dribbling expertise and knack for chopping in along with his proper foot.

As was the case earlier than Fellowes’ departure a yr in the past, golf equipment are lining as much as signal the English participant from Huddersfield and the Baggies want to make sure they’re on the entrance of the queue.

In fact, a group like Ipswich might tempt Asia with the prospect of Premier League soccer, however West Brom might provide a transparent pathway and maybe extra practical sport time within the second tier.

This might be a really thrilling signing for Morrison’s facet, who want to signal what might be their largest expertise since Fellows after a boring season on the Hawthorns.