West Bromwich Albion may still rue that they never got to see the best of Morgan Rogers at the club after he came up through the academy system at The Hawthorns.

The English attacking midfielder made one appearance for the Baggies at senior level, as a 16-year-old in the FA Cup against Brighton, before his move to Manchester City in 2019.

Since then, of course, Rogers has gone on to play for Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, and is currently a star for England and the Villans in the Premier League.

The England international has scored nine goals and provided seven assists in all competitions for Villa this season, and how could West Brom do with a player like him as they sit in the relegation zone in the Championship?

Where Rogers ranks among West Brom’s most valuable academy graduates

West Brom have had some very talented players pass through their academy system in recent years, most recently winger Tom Fellows, who signed for Southampton last summer.

The 22-year-old star produced four goals and 14 assists on the right wing for the Baggies in the 2024/25 campaign before his exit to St. Mary’s, and he is currently one of the most valuable former academy graduates.

However, he is nowhere near the top of the list. Unsurprisingly, Rogers is the most valuable former West Brom academy player with a Transfermarkt valuation of £60m.

As you can see in the table above, Fin Azaz, Dara O’Shea, and Tim Iroebunam are between Fellows and Rogers, which illustrates just how many promising talents have come through the system in recent years.

West Brom will surely be most gutted about the fact that they did not get to see Rogers play regularly at first-team level, though, because of the player he has gone on to become at Villa.

Whilst they missed out on the chance to see the England international shine week-in-week-out at The Hawthorns, the club may have just signed their own version of the Villans star.

West Brom may have found their own Morgan Rogers

The Baggies were active throughout the January transfer window because they are battling to avoid relegation down to League One at the end of this season.

West Brom swooped to sign Hindolo Mustapha on loan from Crystal Palace until the end of the season on deadline day, and he could be Eric Ramsay’s own version of Rogers at The Hawthorns.

U23 scout Antonio Mango once described the 19-year-old attacking midfielder as an “exceptional” talent who has a “frightening” presence on the pitch, and his form for the Eagles at academy level backs that up.

The teenage talent, who has been capped three times by Sierra Leone, scored 13 goals and provided six assists in 32 U21 matches for Crystal Palace, along with five goals and 12 assists in 37 games for their U18s.

These statistics suggest that Mustapha has the potential to be an incredibly exciting addition to Ramsay’s squad as an attacker who has the potential to score and assist goals on a regular basis, as Rogers does for Villa.

The West Brom loanee is also positionally versatile, like the Villans star, in that he can provide a big threat at the top end of the pitch whilst playing wide or as an attacking midfielder.

This means that Ramsay has plenty of options to choose from when he decides to put the teenage talent into the side, as he does not have to be shoehorned into a specific position.

Now, if Mustapha can make the step up to first-team level and provide goals and assists on a regular basis, as he did at youth level, for West Brom in the Championship in the coming weeks, he could be the club’s own Rogers.

The Sierra Leone international has the potential to be a versatile attacking midfielder who delivers goal contributions week-in-week-out, which is what Rogers would have been for the Baggies had he not left for Manchester City.