Daniel Lewis

Mon 13 November 2023 17:10, UK

Chris Lepkowski has questioned the recent speculation linking West Brom youngster Tom Fellows with Leicester City and Southampton.

Simon Jones reported for the Daily Mail on Saturday (11 November) that the Championship promotion-chasing pair are both fans of Fellows.

It was also stated in the report that West Brom’s prospective new owners are eager for the 20-year-old to stay put at The Hawthorns.

However, speaking on The Liquidator podcast [12 November, 12m 38s], former Birmingham Mail reporter Lepkowski doubted the rumours.

“I’m always very wary when there’s a story linking a player with two or more clubs,” he said. “It generally smacks of an agent playing up.

“What I mean by that is an agent floating a name around, which is a good story for journalists and also a way of nudging the club into action. It’s very common. Linking them with two or more teams makes it look like there’s a bit of a race for that player.

“There was a line in that story that made me laugh a little bit, about the potential new owners being very keen to keep him. Well, tell us who those owners are.

“They haven’t said who those owners are going to be, yet here they are telling us they want to keep a player who has come off the bench a few times. There’s more questions than answers.

“I dare say we are vulnerable to Fellows leaving – there’s no doubt about that because of his contract – but sometimes you just have to look at a story, look at the way it’s written, the clubs linked. From a journalistic point of view, I smelt a rat as soon as I read that.”

Unhelpful

The fact that Fellows’ contract runs out at the end of the season must be a cause of concern for West Brom, especially considering they are not exactly in a position to negotiate fresh terms until the ownership situation is resolved.

Some high-calibre clubs will no doubt be interested in snapping up a player with bags of potential on a free transfer around seven months from now.

That said, though, Lepkowski’s point does make perfect sense. How often do you see a player linked with multiple clubs out of nowhere around a time when contract talks are being mooted?

Fellows is still very young and he has the perfect platform at The Hawthorns to make a strong start to his career. The English midfielder has been restricted to six substitute appearances this season, but starts will surely soon follow.

At a time when Carlos Corberan could do with every player possible that is available to him, this speculation does not exactly help.

Still, it is on the club to tie him down, and with a bit of luck that will be sooner rather than later.

In other West Brom news, a player loaned out by the Baggies has made a decision on his future after impressing away from The Hawthorns.