West Brom academy stars tipped to make their mark under new boss in pre-season

Albion's head coach in waiting will arrive at The Hawthorns to a promising crop of youthful talent pushing to make a breakthrough.

There will be friendly opportunities during the summer as youngsters supplement a squad still being pieced together. There is a likelihood the club could make a return to an overseas training camp after several years without heading abroad.

We spoke to James Morrison, who finished the season as Baggies caretaker boss but has been a youth coach at The Hawthorns, to discover which talents from the under-21s squad are poised to make an impact.

Ollie Bostock

There is a lot of excitement that 18-year-old winger Bostock, who tends to typically play on the left flank, can make a big impression on the Albion first team in the near future.

The Wales under-21 international is quick, direct and skilful with an eye for goal.

He was unfortunate with injury in the season just completed and had his under-21s campaign limited to just 13 appearances, having played 16 times in 2023/24, where he was academy player of the year.

His first professional contract, agreed early last year, takes the Lichfield-based winger up to next summer. He missed out on a senior debut due to injury last August in the EFL Cup defeat at League Two Fleetwood and will be champing at the bit to make up for it next term.

Bostock has been tipped to make a similar impact to Tom Fellows - and spoke about just that to the Express & Star earlier this season.