Dreaming a Premier League dream is a noble aim for players succeeding in the academies of its clubs, but simply carving out a career in the game is difficult enough in its own right.
In that context, taking a step back to line up a step forward is standard procedure in the actuality of a good football career.
Developing players capable of standing out in the Championship and pushing towards the top division is just another way for Premier League-level academies to prove their mettle. Whether or not there’s any prospect of players reaching the first team, managing their progress is part of the academy job.
Six goal contributions in six Championship appearances
In June, West Bromwich Albion signed 20-year-old attacking midfielder Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea.
Born in the ‘P’ part of the sprawling BCP conurbation that comprises Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Morgan joined Chelsea at the age of eight but spent six years in the middle of his junior football back on the south coast at Southampton before returning to Surrey.
As Chelsea plotted his future away from Stamford Bridge, he was loaned to Gillingham in League Two in January 2025 and again to League One side Peterborough United for the majority of last season.
He scored at a rate better than once every three matches in the third tier. He’s been even more dangerous in his first month or so in the second, where he is in the early weeks of a four-year contract with the West Midlands club.
Morgan was fortunate to be on the pitch on the night Albion went top of the Championship with a remarkable 1-0 win at Derby County. The young forward kicked out at Watford’s Albert Eames in the previous match but was on hand do a different side of his job after his team went down to 10 men in the first half at Pride Park.
He’s out-scoring his xG and making chances for his teammates, and Morgan’s early-season numbers make for encouraging reading. After six second-tier games, he has three goals and three assists. He’s Albion’s leader on both measures.
It’s easy to see where the productivity comes from. Morgan focuses on doing the right things and being in the right places when he can’t be directly involved. If he sees a run, he runs it. He’s not shy about demanding the ball either.
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Albion’s goal at Pride Park came out of nowhere. Callum Styles carried the ball outside the left flank of the Derby box and was fouled.
It was in the back of the net in the blink of an eye, and it was Morgan who took up the baton to fire a pass in for Aune Heggebo to prod home.
But with Albion a man down and Heggebo withdrawn at the break, Morgan had to show the effects of the toughening up provided by the bottom two tiers over the past 18 months.
The England Under-20 international played up front on his own in the second half, a thankless task at the best of times.
In his first interview with West Brom’s media team, Morgan acknowledged that his time at Gillingham and Peterborough had taught him how to be robust and relentless, characteristics that overtook goals and assists when debutant Brayann Pereira was sent off after 34 minutes.
‘Just keep using your body, be stronger’
Morgan’s performance might have gone unheralded at the front of a rearguard action but the three free kicks he won while protecting the ball earned him the adulation of the travelling Baggies in the corner.
While the former Chelsea player’s ability to lead the line in difficult circumstances is surely a product of his practised robustness, Morgan’s manager is keen that his more recent work is recognised too.
“I think it’s the work he’s done in pre-season as well, and the confidence he’s getting from his performances,” Albion boss James Morrison tells FourFourTwo.
“We said at half time, he’s going to have to try to buy fouls by really using his body. We said, ‘Just keep using your body. Be stronger.’
“I felt like with [Morgan] up there, with his trickery, we might get ourselves up the pitch.”
The new signing certainly made his presence felt. In the first six games with his new club, Morgan is not only making Albion’s recruitment look good, but Chelsea’s decisions about his development too.
At 20, he has both a strong academy background and progress through the divisions already under his belt. That he’s taken the Championship in stride bodes well.
