Callum Styles Embraces Leadership Role at West Bromwich Albion

Callum Styles is not the veteran you’d expect to be leading a Championship dressing room. At 26, though, he suddenly finds himself one of the older heads at West Bromwich Albion – and he’s embracing it.

A summer of change at The Hawthorns has stripped out much of the squad’s experience. Three players over 30 have gone, joined by Karlan Grant and Kristian Bielik, both 28, and 27-year-old Josh Maja. In their place, seven new signings have arrived, all aged 23 or younger.

The balance has flipped. The dynamic in the dressing room with it.

"I think that's natural [to step into leadership] when you've played a lot of games in the Championship and you're getting older season by season," Styles told BBC Radio WM.

He’s not alone in feeling that responsibility. The core that stayed from last season now see themselves as the bridge between what West Brom were and what they’re trying to become.

"Quite a few of us that were here last year feel like it's our role to then get the new lads adjusted to the league, to the team and to the physicality as quickly as possible," he said.

That means more than just talking. It means setting the tempo every day.

"We've got to show that through us working hard ourselves and then obviously helping them off the pitch."

For a club leaning hard into youth, voices like Styles’ will shape how quickly this new-look Albion grow up.