This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
West Bromwich Albion have had an extremely difficult few weeks despite an excellent start to the campaign, and have now failed to win any of their last six matches in the Championship.
It has seen the Baggies start to slip away from the automatic contenders, and while the season is still young, there may be fears that in January some of their more talented players could be targeted if they fall further away from the top sides.
One of those, Tom Fellows, had already seen himself the subject of much interest from the Premier League in the summer, and now once again, the West Brom man is attracting the attention of those in the top flight, namely Everton.
Ipswich Town and Southampton both came close to sealing the signature of the young winger with bids of over £10 million, but he remained at The Hawthorns, where he has continued to develop into one of the best wide players in the division, leading to the Toffees’ interest.
As per Alan Nixon’s latest update on his Patreon service, Everton are monitoring Fellows closely and have sent scouts to check up on his progress as January looms.
Verdict made on Fellows, Everton link
While the January window is still a couple of months away, teams are starting to make preparations ready to bring in their targets early, to give them time to bed in.
This seems to be the situation with Everton and Fellows, with the Premier League club quickly identifying the 21-year-old as a key player to bring in during the winter.
Nevertheless, there will be a fight from the Baggies to keep hold of their talented youngster. Football League World has asked their West Brom Fan Pundit, Callum Burgess, if he is worried about the situation surrounding the winger, and whether he believes it is a good move for him if it does happen.
He told FLW: “I personally think that if Albion continue to take the stance that we took in the summer regarding Tom Fellows, I think it will be difficult for many Premier League teams to pay the asking fee that we’ll be looking for.
“As we were in the summer, as Southampton and Ipswich Town found out, we were looking for a fee much bigger than the £11m that Southampton were offering, and I doubt with Everton’s financial situation, despite the change in ownership with Dan Friedkin coming in to purchase the club soon. I doubt they’ll be spending such a high fee, especially on someone from a Championship club, anytime soon.”
Callum continued: “Despite that, I do think that a right-winger is probably the position that Everton are looking for the most, with Ndiaye and McNeil already very good players and I think Tom Fellows would fit in there perfectly.
“I think it could be one of his best chances to get a move, to get consistent football, to try and make that step up to Premier League level, and it would be a good move for him, but I don’t think it is likely to happen.”
Fellows’ ability to create chances could be great for Everton
This season has been an extremely profitable one for Fellows, and although his team have struggled for goals in recent weeks, it will not be long before the winger helps his team get back to winning ways.
He has already assisted five goals for his team, with his ability to find his West Brom teammates from a cross simply unbelievable at times.
Fellows has created 16 chances in 12 matches, averaging out at one chance created every 49.4 minutes. It has been this quality on the wing that has given Josh Maja the chance to fire in seven times.
| Tom Fellows West Brom Stats (FotMob)* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps (Starts) | 12 (10) | ||
| Minutes Played | 791 | ||
| Goals (Assists) | 0 (5) | ||
| xG | 0.96 | ||
| Shots (On Target) | 15 (4) | ||
| Chances Created | 16 | ||
| Pass Accuracy | 86.6% | ||
| Dribble Success | 57.9% | ||
| Crosses Completed | 12 | ||
| *Stats correct as of 28/10/2024 | |||
The 21-year-old is a Premier League player in waiting, and if the right bid comes in during January, then the Baggies may not have a choice other than to accept, and while frustrating, Carlos Corberan will have the funds to bring in another talent to fill that void on the flank.
However, West Brom will be determined to keep hold of their young star, and they can only hope that he fires them up to the top flight after missing out in the play-offs last season.
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