The West Brom youngster ready made and primed for new Albion boss

The eagerly awaited released and retained list is set to come out this week - with no surprises expected among the out of contract players.

Albion still have a very good core of the squad left in place for next season - and a squad that now has a younger average age compared to recent seasons.

That has been a goal of the Albion owners since their arrival - with youngsters such as Tom Fellows now established as a first team regular.

Another is Josh Griffiths, who looks set to be the club's number one goalkeeper heading into the new campaign.

And another Albion graduate who looks all but set to be very much involved in the first team fold for the coming season is Caleb Taylor.

The commanding defender penned a long term contract last summer, with Albion boldly signalling how highly they rated their central defensive prodigy.

He has been out cutting his teeth in the EFL, with almost 90 appearances to his name from spells at Cheltenham Town, Bolton Wanderers and Wycombe Wanderers.

Now he returns to Albion for pre-season after narrowly missing out on a Wembley play-off final appearance with the Chairboys.

But he returns a much different player than the one who first went out on loan to Cheltenham in 2022.

Taylor, like other Albion young stars who have been sent out on loan, returns experienced and ready for what the Championship brings.

In all three spells he has impressed and earned plaudits for his displays, and has risen steadily from League Two to One. The natural progression now is to the Championship and a place in the Albion side.

He possesses old school defensive characteristics, physical and powerful and a commanding defender, just what Albion need.

Kyle Bartley has triggered a year extension but with his injury history the question remains over how much reasonably he can play. Albion need to look to the future, and Taylor is the next off the production line.

Whoever the new manager is, they will have some key decisions in certain areas, but if Taylor continues on his upward trajectory the centre back isn't one of them.