Forest Green Rovers boss Robbie Savage has tipped Harry Whitwell to become a future West Bromwich Albion captain, following the midfielder’s impressive impact during his loan spell at The New Lawn.
Whitwell was recalled to The Hawthorns this week, but departs with a glowing endorsement from Savage, who believes the young midfielder has the qualities to go right to the top.
“I believe he could be a future West Bromwich Albion captain at an early age because he’s educated, he loves the game and he’s brilliant,” said Savage. “I think he can go all the way — all the way. I really, really do.
“Not only was he a brilliant player, he was a brilliant person — and that’s what we have here. Young players have to have a personality, they have to embrace the culture, and they have to be good people, and that’s what we’re creating.”
Savage revealed he was expecting the young midfielder to return to his parent club: “I was watching West Brom on TV and when I saw Leicester score late on, my thoughts were, ‘I wonder if they’ll call Harry back now,’ and obviously they have. You have to be invested as a young player at any club you go to, but it’s also about the person. In Harry, we had a fine young gentleman. We used to say that to him because he’s so polite, educated, with a brilliant family, and we’ll miss him. We’ll miss him because he integrated himself so well into the football club.”
Savage expects Whitwell to stake his claim at West Brom: “Hopefully he’ll be involved again at the weekend in the FA Cup, and then hopefully he’ll get lots of minutes in the Championship. And if it doesn’t work out, I’m sure he’d love to come back here. He even said himself that he was only going to go back to West Brom if they called him back to play in their team — he wouldn’t have gone to any other club in League One or League Two because he wanted to see out his journey with us.”
Savage believes Whitwell’s successful spell at the New Lawn underlines Forest Green Rovers’ credentials as a destination for young players looking to develop, he said: “I think we all know now that Forest Green Rovers is a great place for young players to develop, and that’s been proven by the way Harry has been highlighted so much. It would have been disappointing if West Brom had called him back and then sent him to a League One or League Two side. I think that would have been devastating for us because the whole point of loans is for young players to play senior football, to develop, to enjoy it, and then go back to their parent club and play — and that’s exactly what Harry’s achieved.”
