According to The Athletic, members of the West Brom staff are expecting to lose one of their most promising youngsters for free this summer as contract talks are non-existent.

What's the word?

It is claimed that Rayhaan Tulloch is "less likely" to be at the Hawthorns next season amidst reports suggesting that fellow academy grad Kyle Edwards is close to agreeing a new deal.

The 19-year-old is a product of the same youth team, Phoenix United, that handed the west Midlanders Sadio Berahino, Jerome Sinclair and Nathan Ferguson, and is set to be out of contract at the end of the season.

Steve Madeley understands that the general consensus behind the scenes is that the England U18 international will leave the club as a free agent.

The Baggies are likely to receive a nominal fee for him settled via a tribunal, should he join another English club, but if he goes to Scotland or abroad, they could receive much less - or nothing at all as seen with Louie Barry's move to Barcelona and back.

Will come back to haunt them

Tulloch made his second senior appearance of the season on Saturday afternoon, coming on as a substitute against West Ham in the FA Cup, taking his overall tally to a total of four.

Albion are bordering on dangerous territory by flirting with his possible exit as the teenager has heaps of unfulfilled potential that is only going to benefit another team and come back to haunt them in the future.

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The striker has a prolific record for the Baggies youth team, scoring 23 in 38 matches for the U18s before continuing that on with the U23 where he has found the net ten times in 44 appearances, including five in 11 this campaign, per Transfermarkt.

This falls in the hands of sporting and technical director Luke Dowling, who has failed to act quickly enough to tap up his long-term prospects with lucrative deals that will make them want to play for West Brom.

As the situation with Louie Barry has shown, the grass isn't always greener, but Barcelona have made £3m in profit on him already. Even from a purely financial perspective, letting Tulloch leave for a nominal fee feels like a waste.

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Tulloch has attracted interest from a whole host of Premier League clubs in recent months, so it does seem likely that the Baggies will lose yet another one of their promising academy talents in the near future.

And in other news, here's how West Brom could look after investment in the playing squad this week...