Why Southampton will be watching £4m West Brom transfer closely | OneFootball

Jimmy-Jay Morgan's performances at West Brom will definitely be under the microscope at Southampton, who oversaw his development in their academy

West Brom's attacking department has been bolstered tenfold in the opening stages of the summer transfer window, with Jimmy-Jay Morgan joining Barney Stewart through the door at the Hawthorns already.

Morgan arrives from Chelsea, where, despite not making a senior appearance for the Blues, he did spend a couple of loan spells in the EFL over the past 18 months, including the entire 2025/26 campaign at Peterborough United in League One.

The 20-year-old impressed at London Road, netting 12 and assisting three in 34 third-tier outings for Luke Williams' side, offering a goalscoring threat from an attacking midfield position that encouraged West Brom to bring him to the Championship.

The Baggies parted ways with £4 million for Morgan, which is a sizeable fee for someone with just one season of third-tier football behind them. Evidently, though, the price tag resembles the promise that the 20-year-old has, and the Baggies will hope that he can live up to it and easily exceed it.

But, West Brom aren't the only team to spend a decent seven-figure sum on the 20-year-old in the hope that he can exceed it, as Chelsea did so when they took him to Stamford Bridge from one of the Baggies' Championship peers.

Jimmy-Jay Morgan was sold to Chelsea by Southampton for up to £6 million in 2023

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Indeed, Morgan first emerged as a top attacking talent while in the Southampton academy, where he spent six years between 2017 and 2023 after leaving Chelsea for the first time due to issues travelling to and from Cobham for training.

The 2006-born star would play up multiple age groups at the Saints Academy. Aged 15, he scored 27 times for the under-16s side and a further 13 for the under-18s during the 2021/22 campaign.

For the under-21s, he scored four times and assisted a further five in eight PL2 games in 2022/23, and he'd make matchday squads for the senior side under Nathan Jones in both the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and once in the Premier League, albeit with no appearances.

It was around the turn of 2023 that it emerged that Morgan had rejected fresh terms with the Saints, and Southampton opted to sell him that February for an initial £3 million, plus another £3 million in future add-ons, back to Chelsea.

The then-17-year-old was one of the most exciting young prospects in the English game, but his hype quickly died down back at Stamford Bridge, as he failed to break into the ever-competitive Blues squad.

There's still some hype and expectation surrounding Morgan, though, just perhaps not at the elite level that Chelsea would have wanted when they set aside such a sizeable fee for someone his age. Now, it's up to West Brom to try to be the catalyst for that potential to be realised.

Southampton haven't had the last laugh just yet — Jimmy-Jay Morgan could still be a top striker

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So far, the decision to sell Morgan for up to £6 million has been a smart one by Southampton, even if not all of that fee will likely be seen by the Saints, as the 20-year-old made no senior appearances for Chelsea.

But, there's still room for them to have some envy if the versatile attacker kicks on at West Brom and helps the Baggies return to being a play-off calibre side in the Championship, especially if that comes at Southampton's expense.

Plus, if there was a sell-on clause inserted into the deal that saw Morgan move to Chelsea in 2023, those at St Mary's would have been hoping he could blossom into a player worth tens of millions, as they'd be in line for a big payday as and when he moved on.

As it happens, the Blues have likely broken even initially by selling him for £4 million, and a "substantial" sell-on clause added into the Baggies deal means that Chelsea will all but certainly make a profit if he becomes a top striker.

If that proves to be the case, Southampton will be the only side out of the three to miss out on a major payday for a bright star. Therefore, they'll have plenty of eyes on how he performs this upcoming campaign.