West Brom teenager Kane Wilson targeting Premier League debut
TWO days after he turned 17, Kane Wilson sat down and penned his first professional contract.
The latest academy recruit to be officially signed up to the senior set-up, the powerful young full-back has been developed by the club since the tender age of seven.
He came on as a substitute away at Northampton Town earlier this season in the second round of the League Cup on a balmy night many fans would like to forget but he will remember forever. Now he’s targeting a Premier League debut.
“It’s been a whirlwind of a season if I am being totally honest,” said Wilson, whose big athletic frame belies his youth. “At the start of the year I could never have imagined that it would have gone so well.
“I went to Austria and Holland (on pre-season) with the senior squad and then I made my debut at Northampton.
“They say that everything happens for a reason and I’m hoping signing this contract is the next step to becoming an established Premier League player.
“It’s a dream come true for my family and I. When I was seven and I joined the academy my goal was to become a professional footballer and I am delighted to have a signed my first contract here.”
Head coach Tony Pulis has recently handed minutes to Field, 18, and Leko, 17, but he’s also a huge fan of Wilson, who impressed him so much in pre-season he was named on the bench for the first two league games of the campaign.
And the gaffer wants to give him a taste of top-tier football before the season is out.
“Kane is the one who is next up to bat in the youngsters,” said Pulis.
“Him, Sam, Leko, they’re all people I’m looking to play in the last 10 games so they get a feel for it.”
A regular for England’s under 17s, Wilson uses his head for more than just clearing crosses.
Two days after his debut in the League Cup, he received his GCSE results and passed all 11, earning two As, four Bs and five Cs.
He signed a two-year deal this week keeping him at the club until the summer of 2019 but if all goes well, he will be at The Hawthorns much longer than that.
At Sixfields, Pulis played him at left-back although his preferred position is on the right. But with Allan Nyom and Craig Dawson already ahead of him in that role, he’s more than willing to slot in wherever he’s needed.
Leko, Field, and Tyler Roberts – who has now scored four goals in his last six starts on loan at League One Shrewsbury – were all given debuts towards the end of last season, and Wilson is hoping he can follow suit this time around.
“I’ve seen Leko, Sam and Tyler all make their Premier League debuts and it’s encouraging for me and the other young lads,” he said.
“We all want to become Premier League footballers so it’s good to see players being given the chances to show what they can do.
“The gaffer has been brilliant with me and he has shown me that there is a pathway to the senior team if I work hard.”
Pulis admitted after Saturday’s defeat that the only way to compete with financially superior clubs was to recruit ultra-shrewdly and develop your own stars out of the academy.
Albion hope Wilson, the energetic young full-back from from Birmingham, will grow into one of those stars.
