West Brom released Romaine Sawyers in 2013 but he has been earning rave reviews on the back of Brentford’s eight-game unbeaten run.
It may not be a common sight to see a West Brom academy graduate really making their name in the first-team but that should not hide the fact that The Baggies boast one of the most prosperous youth systems in English football.
The problem is that most of the most impressive youngsters to emerge from the club tend to end up plying their trade elsewhere.
Leeds United benefitted immensely last season from having two West Brom alumni in their ranks. Chris Wood earned the Championship’s Golden Boot award thanks to a career-best 27 goals while Kemar Roofe enjoyed a promising if inconsistent first season at Elland Road.
West Brom let the attacking midfielder leave for Oxford United in the winter of 2015. After netting a stunning 26 goals for The Us in 2015/16, Roofe more than earned his £3 million move to Leeds, per the Yorkshire Evening Post.
But with Roofe once again in and out of the Leeds’ starting XI this season, he has perhaps been outshone by another player who was deemed not good enough for The Baggies.
Back to the big time?
West Brom released Romaine Sawyers in the summer of 2013 after he failed to make a senior Premier League appearance for the club. And while the 26-year-old is yet to prove that he has the consistency to be a top flight player, his talent is not in question.
A classy midfield operator, the former Walsall star Sawyers is enjoying a fine second season at Brentford after a difficult debut campaign at Griffin Park. He has been key to an impressive run of eight games unbeaten which has lifted The Bees from near the bottom of the Championship to within touching distance of the play-offs.
If Sawyers can maintain his current form, a long-awaited opportunity in the top flight may not be long in coming.
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