Top News

For players coming through Premier League academies, dreaming of reaching the top flight is an admirable ambition, but even establishing a professional career in football is difficult enough on its own.

Seen in that light, taking one step back in order to move two steps forward is often a normal part of building a successful career in the game.

Producing players who can shine in the Championship and push towards the Premier League is another way for top-level academies to show their quality. Whether or not there is a realistic route into the first team, guiding a player’s development remains a central part of academy work.

In June, West Bromwich Albion completed the signing of 20-year-old attacking midfielder Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea.

Born in the ‘P’ section of the wide BCP conurbation made up of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Morgan joined Chelsea when he was eight. He then spent six years during the middle phase of his youth football back on the south coast with Southampton before returning to Surrey.

As Chelsea mapped out his future away from Stamford Bridge, he was sent on loan to Gillingham in League Two in January 2025 and then to League One club Peterborough United for most of last season.

He scored at a rate of better than one goal every three games in the third tier. He has looked even more threatening in his opening month or so in the second tier, where he is in the early stages of a four-year deal with the West Midlands side.

Morgan was fortunate to be on the pitch on the evening Albion climbed to the top of the Championship with a remarkable 1-0 victory at Derby County. The young forward had kicked out at Watford’s Albert Eames in the previous match, but he was available to perform a very different role after his side were reduced to 10 men in the first half at Pride Park.

He is outperforming his xG and creating chances for his team-mates, and Morgan’s early-season numbers are highly encouraging. After six matches in the second tier, he has three goals and three assists. He leads Albion in both categories.

It is not hard to understand where that output is coming from. Morgan concentrates on doing the right things and occupying the right areas when he cannot be directly involved. If he spots a run, he makes it. He is also not afraid to demand the ball.

Albion’s goal at Pride Park came from almost nothing. Callum Styles drove the ball just outside the left side of the Derby penalty area and was brought down.

Within moments, the ball was in the net, and it was Morgan who picked up the move by driving a pass through for Aune Heggebo to turn home.

But with Albion down to 10 men and Heggebo taken off at half-time, Morgan then had to demonstrate the hard edge he has developed through his experiences in the bottom two divisions over the past 18 months.

The England Under-20 international led the line on his own in the second half, which is a thankless job even in the best circumstances.

In his first interview with West Brom’s media team, Morgan said that his spells at Gillingham and Peterborough had taught him how to be strong and relentless, qualities that became more important than goals and assists once debutant Brayann Pereira was sent off after 34 minutes.

Morgan’s display may have passed without wider recognition while he spearheaded a defensive effort, but the three free-kicks he won while shielding the ball brought him the admiration of the travelling Baggies supporters in the corner.

While the former Chelsea player’s ability to play up front in such difficult conditions is clearly linked to that well-developed toughness, Morgan’s manager is equally keen that his more recent work receives credit.

“I think it’s the work he’s done in pre-season as well, and the confidence he’s getting from his performances,” Albion boss James Morrison tells FourFourTwo.

“We said at half time, he’s going to have to try to buy fouls by really using his body. We said, ‘Just keep using your body. Be stronger.’

“I felt like with [Morgan] up there, with his trickery, we might get ourselves up the pitch.”

The new signing certainly made his presence count. Across his first six matches for his new club, Morgan is not only making Albion’s recruitment team look smart, but also Chelsea’s decisions over his development.

At 20, he already has both a strong academy education and meaningful progress through the divisions behind him. The fact that he has adapted to the Championship so comfortably is an encouraging sign.