West Brom may be laughing hardest at Southampton transfer agreement right now | OneFootball

Tom Fellows has failed to make the desired impact at Southampton since his summer move from West Brom

Tom Fellows made the move from boyhood club West Brom to Southampton in the summer, but the winger has yet to make the desired impact on the South Coast, leaving his former club as the ones laughing.

It has not been an ideal season for West Brom in almost any capacity.

The Baggies find themselves in the lower echelons of the EFL Championship table, and face the very real possibility of playing their football in the third tier next season for the first time in over 30 years.

Ryan Mason's tenure went far from planned, as after a positive start, the wheels very quickly came off under the former Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City midfielder, and he has since been replaced by Welsh boss Eric Ramsay.

Ramsay had previously worked as a coach at Manchester United and most recently as the manager of MLS side Minnesota United, and took the reins at The Hawthorns following Mason's dismissal, though his arrival has done little to help lift results.

With no wins in seven and Coventry City up next, Ramsay faces an uphill task to save his West Brom job, but the club can take some solace in watching their former player Tom Fellows, who joined Southampton in a £10 million deal this summer, face struggles of his own at St Mary's.

Tom Fellows has failed to make the desired impact at Southampton since his summer switch from West Brom

Fellows, who spent his entire youth and professional career with West Brom, aside from a loan spell with Crawley Town during the 2022/23 season, made his first permanent move away from the Baggies this summer to join Southampton.

The England youth international joined the likes of Leo Scienza, Caspar Jander, and Finn Azaz to make the move to St Mary's this summer, though his impact has been uninspiring, to say the least.

Signed by Will Still, Fellows was used as both a right-winger and right wing-back under the former Reims and Lens boss, but since his dismissal and Tonda Eckert taking the reins, he has predominantly been used as a right-winger in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

Fellows has gathered a reputation for his ability to make pinpoint crosses from the right-hand side, which saw him grab 14 assists in 45 league games for the Baggies last season and earned him a £10 million move this summer.

Though the 22-year-old has struggled to match those heights since switching to red and white colours, with just four assists in 26 league games this season so far, whilst also waiting on his first goal in Southampton colours.

Considering they paid much less for Scienza, who has had much more of a positive impact since his switch from Heidenheim, the Saints will be disappointed with their investment in Fellows thus far.

West Brom, on the other hand, despite their own struggles, will be glad to see their former star have his own struggles away from the club, and are the early winners from this transaction.

Eric Ramsay could do with a player like Tom Fellows at West Brom now despite Southampton struggles

West, with just 14 games remaining, sit just two points above the relegation zone as things stand, with a real chance of being dragged into a battle in the latter stages of the campaign if their form does not improve sooner rather than later.

Ramsay has endured a torrid start to life at The Hawthorns, and could do with a player such as Fellows right now to add some much-needed creativity to a side struggling for goals.

Having seen his side score twice in this opening game at home to Middlesbrough, the Baggies have scored just twice more in their following six games, with hitting the back of the net a clear issue for them.

Right wing-back Daniel Imray was brought in on loan from Crystal Palace during the January window, though he has yet to make an impact on the side.

Fellows could have been a perfect option for Ramsay on the right, but instead, he is having his own struggles at Southampton.

Nevertheless, West Brom