Carlos Corberan can’t hide excitement for West Brom starlet

Whitwell has earned rave reviews for his performances with Richard Beale’s under-21s and is already an ever-present in first-team training.

England under-18 international midfielder Whitwell, who turns 19 next month, is one of the club’s youngsters earmarked for first-team potential, potentially replicating the recent rise of winger Tom Fellows.

Oxford-born Whitwell’s fine form at under-21 level earned a nomination for the Premier League 2 player of the month for September. He netted five goals in three games and is on the radar of higher England age groups. Corberan is excited by Whitwell given his development in recent months.

“I wasn’t happy because he scored some goals – I am very happy with how I am watching Harry,” Corberan said of the teen’s development. “Every day he is training with us. He is training many times. He is showing a level that I am very, very, very pleased with.

“I am very pleased with how this kid is progressing. Very pleased. Probably he is a player who has grown more with his potential.

“I knew he had a lot of potential. But the level he is maturing as a player – every time he plays with us, every time I watch him, I feel more pleased about how he is performing and growing. It excites me a lot.”

Albion’s head coach confirmed the club are still undecided about the next step for Whitwell, who has yet to taste regular senior football in the shape of a loan.

Corberan added: “He is a player you can think of two possibilities. He is still a young player. He can make the full year here, progressing how he is, or think about the loan if something appears or we find something we consider is his next step.

“Do these decisions in this time right now? It’s not the moment. These decisions need to start at the end of November and beginning of December, according to how he is progressing, and more things.

“He has arrived to this moment where we can consider two scenarios. The under-21 games still challenge him, so I think both scenarios could be fine.”

Rangy midfielder Whitwell made his senior bow in the FA Cup last season and laid on an assist in Albion’s win over Aldershot.

He has trained at senior level for some time and was once again a regular during pre-season. Whitwell still features heavily for Beale’s under-21s, in which he is a standout performer. The youngster started Albion’s heavily-rotated EFL Cup defeat at Fleetwood in August and grew into the tie, eventually earning praise from the head coach with how he performed.

Corberan admitted he previously felt Whitwell’s calling in senior football would be as a number 10 – an attacking midfielder. But the Spaniard now feels, given how the starlet has developed physically, he can have a career as a number eight – a central midfielder in old money.

“I think he’s a number eight,” said Corberan. “His position is eight, who can play as a 10. He has the attacking resources of a number 10 but attacking resources of a number eight too.

“He has physical resources, if he keeps growing, to be a number eight and not just a 10. If he didn’t grow in the level I’ve seen, for first-team football he is more a 10, but I am now watching him grow into a midfielder.”