Harrison: Starlets won't do an Izzy Brown

Youth supremo Mark Harrison insists none of Albion's teenage hotshots will follow Izzy Brown's lead by leaving the Hawthorns on the cheap.

Harrison says the Baggies' best young talents – including Jonathan Leko and Tyler Roberts – have made long-term commitments to the club.

Albion were stung when Brown walked out for Chelsea just months after making his Premier League debut at the age of 16. And highly-rated duo Yan Dhanda and Jerome Sinclair quit for Liverpool as teenagers.

But academy manager Harrison said: "When we look at people like Izzy playing for Chelsea's first team and Jerome Sinclair getting minutes for Liverpool in the League Cup, it shows how far the academy has come.

"The really exciting thing for the academy and for the fans is that we look at the lads coming through now and we honestly believe we have players who are better than those two.

"And the best thing is that those players have committed themselves to the club for the long-term. The club have put measures in place, to their credit, and we are confident now that we will keep hold of our best players."

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Albion have high hopes that winger Roberts, who linked up with the Wales squad for training yesterday, and striker Leko, who moved at the age of eight from DR Congo, can follow England Under-21s star Saido Berahino into the first team.

The pair both travelled with Tony Pulis's side for the final Premier League game of the season at Arsenal with Roberts named on the substitutes' bench.

And Harrison believes more parents are now encouraging their children to stick with clubs like Albion.

He said: "When I saw Izzy make his debut for Chelsea against us, I couldn't help feeling that he hadn't progressed.

"I firmly believe he would have played 30 or 40 times for us if he had stayed."