“He’s turned down the likes of Manchester City” – 20-year-old identified as West Brom’s most exciting youngster by WBA fan pundit

The English midfielder is only 20-years old and is the latest prospect to come through at the club’s academy. 

Many exciting players have come through West Brom’s academy in recent seasons, with Gardner-Hickman now carrying the mantle for the team. 

Our correspondent has claimed that he can play a big role in the team going forward given his current potential. 

“I think we’ve been fortunate in recent years as a club to have so many exciting academy graduates coming through the ranks,” says Matt, who can be found on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, a lot of those players, and a lot of the staff that have helped put the academy in such a good state, have left and mostly joined Aston Villa — but we won’t really touch on that.

“Right now, I think the one that sticks out for me is probably Taylor Gardner-Hickman, if we’re sort of ignoring Dara O’Shea as more of a first team player now.

“I think Gardner-Hickman’s very versatile, he’s quick, he’s good technically. He’s turned down the likes of Manchester City before, played a part in one of our very successful FA Youth Cup teams, so yeah I’d definitely go with him. 

“He’s already got a Championship man of the match to his name this season.”

Gardner-Hickman, 20, has appeared eight times in the Championship so far this season, including six starts. 

He has also featured for West Brom in their Premier League 2 campaign, in which the side currently sit third in the table.

However, his lack of consistent action at underage level speaks to how highly regarded he is at the club.

It is obviously seen as beneficial to keep him with the first team set-up on a more consistent basis than to play with the U23s side. 

West Brom currently sit in ninth place in the Championship, with new manager Steve