Cole Deeming became the latest Albion youngster to sign his first professional contract with the club this week.
The central midfielder penned a two-and-a-half year deal - keeping him at The Hawthorns until June 2026.
Hailing from Sutton Coldfield, the first-year scholar has been one of a number of under-18s who have benefitted from exposure at a higher age group this season - holding his own in Richard Beale’s PL2 team and chipping in with goals from the middle of the park.
Like fellow academy team-mate and recently-turned pro Ollie Bostock, confidence in Cole’s attributes has regularly been shown throughout his time at The Hawthorns - particularly when he played over half of the 2022/23 campaign in Leigh Downing’s scholarship group as an U16.
But the decision to become a professional at his boyhood club was an easy one to make for the 17-year-old who’s been in the Baggies’ youth setup since he was six-years-old.
After putting pen to paper on the deal, Academy Manager Richard Stevens reiterated his delight at seeing another young prospect commit their future to the club.
Stevens said: “He’s a born-and-bred Baggie. His family are from a long chain of strong Albion fans so it’s a massive occasion for them and everyone involved with Cole.
“He’s spent his younger ages in the academy and has always been a high performer in a really challenging group with lots of good footballers.
“This year, as a first-year scholar, he’s played in the 21s, been a regular in the 18s and gained involvement with the first-team group at times when required.
“Giving Cole just over two more years here allows him to develop and work on the important things and as a club, we’re looking forward to working with him over this next period.
“He wants to be here, he loves it here, he’s improving all the time and it was absolutely correct that we gave him his professional contract.
“It shows our intent as a football club, as an academy, and people have got to continue seeing us as a football club which is committed to developing young players.
“It’s my job as Academy Manager to put the processes in place to make that happen and that’s by working with staff to provide opportunities for boys to go up a level, because if you’re good enough then you should be able to go and play at higher age groups.
“That’s something we want to focus on at Albion at the right time and even when Cole has played in his own age group this year, he’s shown the same level of respect there as he does when he plays up a group.
“Being balanced and grounded like that are important in everything you do as a player at this football club.”
