"When, not if" - West Brom: View on Caleb Taylor future prospects delivered | OneFootball

The Baggies' fan pundit has tipped Caleb Taylor to break into the senior team soon

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

West Bromwich Albion defender Caleb Taylor has been identified as the Baggies' youngster that is most likely to be the next player to break into Carlos Corberan's senior side.

Taylor has been with the Albion since the age of 10, and made his debut for the first-team as an 18-year-old when he started in an August 2021 EFL Cup defeat to Arsenal.

He has spent time out on loan amid sporadic appearances for the Baggies over the last few years, with spells in the third-tier at Cheltenham Town, Bolton Wanderers, and now Wycombe Wanderers, who he moved to late in the summer window.

Taylor is now 21-years-old, and is clearly well thought of at the Hawthorns after he signed a new four-year deal in July, so will be hoping for a successful campaign with the Chairboys to set himself up for a place in Corberan's squad in the near future.

Albion fan pundit tips Caleb Taylor for big Baggies future

The centre-back has made 10 appearances for the Baggies' first-team to date, and his time at Cheltenham was a successful period in his short career, as he featured 49 times for the Robins as they finished 16th in League One 2022/23.

Taylor has played six times for Wycombe so far this season, with five starts and no losses in that time, as Matt Bloomfield's side chase promotion to the second-tier, and West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, picked the 21-year-old out when we asked him for a youngster that he tips to be the next breakthrough star at the Hawthorns.

"Albion have had quite a lot of success with the youth academy in recent years, most notably the likes of Dara O’Shea, who we were able to make nearly double-digit figures on, and Tom Fellows, who has become one of the most exciting talents in the Championship," Callum told Football League World.

"The most prominent name who would be likely to break through anytime soon would be Caleb Taylor, who is currently out on loan at Wycombe.

"It has kind of been a matter of when, not if, he’ll be able to get his chance in the Albion first-team.

"Some might have hoped that would be this year, but instead we chose to keep the likes of Kyle Bartley, instead of releasing him.

"If he had left then there would have been a good chance that Taylor would have been higher up in the pecking order, but it has been good that he has been able to go out and get experience instead."

Taylor is on the right path to being a West Brom regular

It may seem as if Taylor's development has been somewhat staggered over the last few years since his debut over three years ago, but West Brom look to have done exactly what was needed for him to keep developing elsewhere before being fully ready to break into the senior team.

He looked to possibly be ready for the step-up this term, but West Brom's investment in defensive reinforcements in the summer ahead of a promotion challenge that looks to be shaping up nicely, meant that their depth was too strong to justify the 21-year-old sticking around and not getting valuable minutes.

Instead, he joined Wycombe for the third League One loan spell of his career, and looks to be settling in brilliantly so far with some impressive performances at the heart of the Chairboys' backline.

Matt Bloomfield's men look primed for a real push for the play-offs in the third-tier this season, and if Taylor can be a crucial part of their team going forward, there is no reason why he cannot become a genuine option for the Baggies and Corberan next term.