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West Brom will be shocked at the progress Will Lankshear has made following his underwhelming loan spell at The Hawthorns.

The 2024-25 season was both a period of instability and disappointment for West Brom to endure.

The Baggies were led into the campaign by Spanish coach Carlos Corberan, who had just come off the back of Albion losing a play-off semi-final to Southampton over two legs.

However, there was much room for optimism that another promotion-chasing season could unfold, and the team did show its credentials heading into the festive period, occupying 7th place in the table despite the playing budget being reduced by 30%.

But on Christmas Eve, Albion announced that Corberan had departed The Hawthorns to take over the vacant role at boyhood club Valencia, leaving everybody connected with Albion stunned at such an untimely exit.

After being led on an interim basis under Chris Brunt, the Baggies finally appointed the Spaniard’s successor in Tony Mowbray, who returned to the club for a second time after battling back from a strenous bout of cancer.

In what looked to be a fairytale reunion, Mowbray failed to keep West Brom in the promotion mix, with Albion slumping under his guidance, which ultimately saw them fail in their quest to reach the top six.

Mowbray was relieved of his duties in April 2025, leading the club to just five wins in his 18 games in charge, with Albion fans deflated at how the season unravelled following the departure of Corberan.

One player who was part of Albion’s downfall was loanee Will Lankshear, who had linked up at The Hawthorns on loan from Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day of the January transfer window.

The 21-year-old would go on to have such a mediocre spell in the Black Country, with the majority of Albion supporters glad to see the back of him due to his lack of impact.

But his recent resurgence on loan at Oxford United last season has now led him to being the hot property in the Championship, with the likes of Wolves and Southampton both seeing hefty bids turned down by Spurs.

It will leave all connected with Albion scratching their heads as to how this has happened, with Lankshear now a fraction of the player that represented the blue and white stripes.

Will Lankshear’s West Brom flop and Oxford United success

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When Will Lankshear signed on the dotted line for West Brom, there was bound to have been optimism that he could hit the ground running and be the potent goalscorer Albion needed to remain in the promotion hunt, but unfortunately, it was never meant to be.

Lankshear’s opportunities were generally limited due to the Baggies also completing the loan signing of Adam Armstrong in the same window, who linked back up with Mowbray in a bid to give Albion an extra layer of firepower.

Because of this, the Albion loanee appeared just 11 times over the course of the second half of the season, making only four starts, and a lack of gametime contributed to Lankshear being unable to find the back of the net in that spell.

Playing in a demoralised and deteriorating outfit, Lankshear was often left to feed off scraps up front as Albion desperately lacked creativity in the final third, and because of his inexperience, didn’t get many other chances to impress when rarely leading the line from the off.

The majority, if not all, of West Brom supporters would have been delighted to see the back of the youngster, who linked up at the Kassam Stadium with Oxford United on another loan deal at the beginning of last season.

But this loan stint would see a complete contrast in fortunes, with Lankshear slotting into the U’s setup so well and transforming himself into a dependable option in front of goal as Oxford battled for their second tier lives.

Using his physicality, silky touch and clinical edge when presented with an opportunity, Lankshear was firmly a fan favourite for the U’s, and was a major factor in Oxford having even a remote chance of staying in the division.

The frontman went on to net 11 times in 44 appearances, particularly impressing towards the end of the campaign by notching five goals and three assists in his final 12 league games.

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It led to Lankshear landing Oxford's men's golden boot and Young Player of the Year awards, and these achievements have gone far from unnoticed, with some major Championship players registering their interest in securing his services heading into the 2026-27 campaign.

It has been revealed by Football.London that West Brom’s arch rivals Wolves, as well as Southampton, have had approaches turned down for Tottenham's 21-year-old striker, with Spurs reportedly rejecting offers of around £10m, although it remains intriguing to see where Lankshear will be playing his football come the end of the window.

West Brom will not believe Will Lankshear’s transformation

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It will be difficult for West Brom to comprehend how they weren’t the beneficiaries of Will Lankshear’s talent, but when looking at it in more detail, he just wasn’t in the right type of environment to thrive.

Coming into a team that had so much expectation to be in the promotion race during his first ever loan spell in the Championship, it’s understandable why he failed to settle, and having this type of experience could have been the catalyst as to why he went on to thrive so much at Oxford.

In addition, Lankshear was tasked with turning around a side that had totally derailed from their heady heights under Corberan, which such a lack of service hugely damaging to Lankshear’s confidence, as he struggled to even get regular chances to notch his first Albion goal.

Overall, the loan move came at the wrong time, with Lankshear nowhere near equipped at such a young stage of his career to deal with all the negatives in that West Brom team, who were destined for destruction from the moment Corberan walked out of the building.

While it will be a positive learning experience for the player, the Baggies will feel frustrated that they couldn’t replicate what Oxford managed to do with him just a year later, with Lankshear now having the potential to turn into one of the division’s top young talents and prove all of his doubters at The Hawthorns wrong.