View: Loaned-out West Brom forward one to watch amid impressive run of form
West Brom fans take great pride in the number of young players that their academy produces, with plenty breaking through into the first-team in recent years.
However one name that would not have been too familiar to most supporters this season is Callum Morton, a 20-year-old striker who was born in Torquay and joined the Baggies from Yeovil Town in 2017.
Morton has risen through the ranks in the last few seasons, scoring six goals in 11 appearances for West Brom’s Under-18s before leaping up to the Under-23s.
He found goals harder to come by in Premier League, scoring eight goals in 37 appearances but still managed to find a rich vein of form while on loan at Braintree Town last season.
Morton joined the National League club midway through the 2018/19 season and went on to score five goals in 14 league appearances before suffering a serious ACL injury that ended his campaign in March.
Any knee injury like that can really stunt a player’s development – but not Morton.
The Torquay-born striker made a full recovery by December and played a few times for West Brom’s Under-23s before he was signed on loan by League Two club Northampton Town.
And since heading to Northampton, Morton has flourished.
He’s made nine appearances so far for the Cobblers, scoring five goals in the process and winning a nomination for the League Two player of the month award for February.
According to stats by WyScout, he’s been a real menace for opposition to deal with.
Morton has averaged 0.68 goals and 1.64 shots at goal per 90 minutes of League Two action, meaning that he is scoring with 41 per cent of his attempts.
He also averages 4.78 touches inside the opposition box per 90 minutes. In comparison, West Brom’s starting striker Hal Robson-Kanu averages 3.21 in the Championship.
Morton is a pest for defenders. He’s tireless, always willing to close down and when he is handed an opportunity in the penalty area, he’s bound to take it.
West Brom fans have a lot of good young players to keep their eyes on at The Hawthorns at the moment, but Morton is among the pick of them based on his form at Northampton.
In other West Brom news, Luke Dowling’s shared an update on the club’s hunt for a new Under-23s boss.