Souleyman Mandey exclusive: West Brom prospect on childhood scraps, moving from Austria, Stourbridge and family gratitude

Mandey, the 19-year-old goalscoring midfielder, arrived on these shores from Vienna, Austria, six years ago with his two brothers and father. A couple of months later his mother and sister joined the family in Erdington in Birmingham.

The teen, who went on to join the Baggies in 2023, spoke no English but the decision was made for education and sporting opportunities for the Mandey children.

And as a result, Albion's Souleyman is determined to repay his parents and is doing so with sparkling form for the Baggies' under-21s this term.

"They are here mainly for all my games and always supporting me and my brothers," Mandey tells the Express & Star. "They have been there for everything for us and I'm always grateful for that and trying to repay them.

"I've always had confidence but thinking about it, with parents getting older now, it's about trying to make them proud and keep them happy. I want them to live life."

Mandey is certainly grasping his chance with a purple patch of form. The attacking midfielder is up to eight goals for the season already - and all of his goals have arrived since mid-October.

He is a striking figure, physically dominant and technically gifted. The Austrian youth international is a colourful character too - he is lively around the training ground but shy in an interview, albeit mightily impressive in his second language.

The streets of Vienna were the Mandeys home and Souleyman smiles as he recalls home life as it was then, growing up with a ball with brothers Ziyad, 17, and Bassit, 28.

"It was always really competitive!" Mandey adds. "At home especially, it would give my parents headaches, just playing football in the gaff - trying to prove who is the best.

"It got scrappy a lot, but you can see it helped a lot.

"It was different over here. Moving here I did not speak one word of English.

"So it was tough, but obviously in school a lot of boys I still speak to today helped me a lot with speaking English. It's always good to learn new things in life. I am always grateful.

"I feel like I get settled really quick. So I'm comfortable anywhere, especially here at West Bromwich Albion. I'm just really grateful to get this opportunity."

It is a big point in the young career of Mandey, who turns 20 early next month, and he has caught the eye with his timely goalscoring exploits.

Football is clearly strong in the family genetics. Younger brother Ziyad is a promising left-back at Ipswich, having moved from Wolves, and Bassit is a key man at non-league Coleshill. Mandey moved to The Hawthorns early in the 2023/24 from Rangers, having spent a year north of the border as a scholar when he turned 16.

He talked up spending time in 'digs' in and around Glasgow.

A loan is likely to be imminent and you would expect would-be clubs to have taken note.

It will not be a first temporary move away from Albion for Mandey, who spent several months at Stourbridge over two loan spells early in the 2024/25 season. He was popular and has fond memories.

He smiles: "It was good there to get my first experience of men's football, I enjoyed it really and it helped me a lot.

"It's different. There are a lot of long balls, the pitches are a bit different. It makes it harder for us in those conditions.

"They toughen you up (ready) to play at professional level.

"The fans were great. I loved the fans - they even had a chant for me ... 'Oooh Souleyman Mandey!'"

Mandey - who has trained on occasion with Ryan Mason's first team - insists the attacking 'No.10' role he currently plays for Leigh Downing's under-21s is his favourite role, but his recent purple patch in front of goal is down to a youthful instinct.

"In Austria I used to be a striker, so it's something natural for me to be up there and scoring goals," he says, while adding he will keep a personal goal target quiet but is "close".

"I've still got that attacking instinct and they are helping me at the moment score goals."