West Brom urged to pursue "excellent" Crystal Palace star amid £10m Tom Fellows, Southampton exit | OneFootball

FLW's Baggies fan pundit feels that the Crystal Palace winger could fill the gap which will be left by the England U21 international.

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 Brom have started the season perfectly, with good performances and seven points in nine games under new manager Ryan Mason, alongside a near-perfect transfer window.

Defensively, the Baggies had shored up well, with the likes of Nat Phillips, Chris Mepham and Krystian Bielik all making the move to The Hawthorns.

Further forward, Aune Heggebo looked like all they needed, as they were seemingly set to keep their attacking talent from the season prior.

However, they're now going to have to scramble to replace their most creative outlet in Tom Fellows, as Southampton are set to bring him in for a package worth £10 million.

The England U21 international has started every game for Ryan Mason in both the Championship and the EFL Cup so far, but now looks set to be on his way to the south coast.

With the transfer window closing on Monday, there won't be much time to find a suitable replacement, but FLW's West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, believes that Crystal Palace's Jesurun Rak-Sakyi could be the man to fill that void.

Burgess reflects the stance of the majority of West Brom fans when he feels that someone does need to be brought in to fill the massive creative gap opened by Fellows' departure.

Speaking to Football League World, he said: "I think we definitely need to find a replacement in the remaining days of the transfer window, but it'll be very difficult to replace the talent that Fellows possessed with such little time left."

A lot of fellow English clubs may be reluctant to part ways with talent so close to deadline day, so Burgess did admit that the club may have to look to other countries to find a replacement, but mentioned Rak-Sakyi as a player from England he wouldn't mind seeing at the club.

"Albion might need to get creative and look at a shortlist from abroad," he continued.

"But if we're looking at players we might be more familiar with, someone like Rak-Sakyi, who had some interest this summer after his loan spell at Sheffield United.

"Should the fee be reasonable, I think he'd be an excellent signing for us.

"He's a direct winger who'd be able to bring some of the dribbling that Fellows possessed, and he may be seen as a better finisher than him, too.

"So, he should be one for Albion to consider if we are to get a reasonable price for him."

Crystal Palace should be open for a Jesurun Rak-Sakyi departure this summer

Rak-Sakyi, who turns 23 this October, should be angling for a move away from Selhurst Park, as it's clear that he isn't exactly in Oliver Glasner's plans.

The wideman is yet to appear this season, not even in their UEFA Conference League qualifiers against Fredrikstad, and his last Eagles appearances came in the 2023/24 campaign.

Last season, Rak-Sakyi netted seven times for Sheffield United, but was a victim of heavy rotation due to the amount of attacking talent Chris Wilder had at his disposal at times.

In the play-offs, he made just one cameo bench appearance in their play-off semi-final second leg win over Bristol City.

Given Fellows started 35 times in the Championship last season, and has started every game so far this term, too, his replacement is likely to receive plenty of game time, something which Rak-Sakyi clearly needs.

The 22-year-old showed glimpses of quality last season, but not enough to show he belongs in the Premier League.