"£20-25m" - West Brom urged to make huge Tom Fellows transfer demand | OneFootball

Baggies winger Tom Fellows is likely to attract interest yet again in the January transfer window

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 been told to hike up a significant asking price for Tom Fellows, who could well attract repeated Premier League interest in January following a sensational start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

The Baggies set the tone during the opening six games of the new season, where they had sat at the top of the table after maintaining an unbeaten run up until Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

Form has gone awry as of late and Carlos Corberan may face some more bold selection calls after West Brom fell to a 1-0 loss on home soil to Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening, but supporters are still positive and optimistic about what the remainder of the season could hold.

Fellows, who emerged as a burgeoning and raw talent during the back-end of the previous campaign, has been the heartbeat of his side's early-season successes this time around. The young winger is yet to open his goalscoring account, although he has already made five assists while striking up devastating chemistry with Baggies marksman Josh Maja.

According to reports, West Brom fended off interest from Premier League trio Southampton, Everton and Ipswich Town during the final stages of the summer window and there is a natural anticipation that top-flight suitors will come calling once again in the new year.

Claim made on potential West Brom, Tom Fellows transfer demand

We asked our West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess to identify the player most likely to attract the most admirers in January, where that interest is expected to come from and just what would be an acceptable asking price.

Rather unsurprisingly, Callum has namechecked Fellows and believes that the 21-year-old starlet may well be valued at a fee in the region of £20-25 million.

"I think there's going to be quite a lot of interest in quite a lot of the West Bromwich Albion squad," Callum explained to Football League World.

"We've got a few players out of contract next summer such as Darnell Furlong and Grady Diangana, but I think the obvious selection for a player who's going to be gathering interest in January is Tom Fellows after his start to the season.

"He had quite a bit of Premier League interest in the summer from the likes of Southampton, Ipswich and Everton so it would be no surprise to see such as those ones come in for him again.

"Maybe as his form has gone from strength to strength recently, there may be a higher calibre of club, for example a Newcastle if they think he's someone with potential.

"I think if someone did come in for Fellows in January, we'd be looking at a really big fee probably in the region of £20-25 million given the importance he has to this squad.

"He's a player who came through the Albion academy and Shilen Patel [owner] previously said that Fellows is his favourite player, so that might be another reason why he'd be even more reluctant to let him go.

"He's someone who Carlos Corberan trusts a lot, with him surpassing Jed Wallace in the team and playing almost every week."

West Brom should not sanction mid-season Tom Fellows transfer exit

The Baggies would doubtless collect a handsome sum for Fellows, which would be officially recorded as full profit owing to his status as an academy graduate.

Quite possibly, the line of thinking would involve investing in multiple positions with the money received from any potential sale of Fellows, although the Baggies must really avoid that situation at all costs.

The early evidence suggests that Corberan is going to have this side strongly challenging for promotion all season long, and it is a viable objective.

No teams in the Championship look outstandingly potent in the way that Southampton, Leeds United, Leicester City and even Ipswich did last year, so the Baggies have a real good chance if they can pick their form back up and generate momentum heading into the winter break and beyond.

Fellows is a vital component, though, and his pinpoint crossing ability is also getting the best out of Maja. His impact on the side is perhaps second to none, and the reality is that West Brom would struggle to bring in an equivalent replacement - such is his quality.

Keeping Fellows for six more months after January at the very least and achieving the lucrative financial rewards of promotion to the Premier League, which he could inspire, represents a better course of action at this stage.