West Brom ace is already one of the signings of the summer after Blackburn Rovers display

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West Brom have every right to be extremely pleased with their start to the season as they ran out 1-0 winners at home to Blackburn Rovers.

The Baggies were more than worth their victory, and perhaps should have scored more than just the one goal as Ryan Mason got off to the perfect start in the West Midlands.

Isaac Price’s 15th minute strike was enough to hand the hosts all three points at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon, with Balázs Tóth coming to Rovers’ rescue on more than one occasion.

However, it was not the goalscorer who took all the headlines for West Brom, with Nat Phillips having a great showing on his debut for the club, and he could well be their signing of the summer.

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Nat Phillips was sensational for West Brom vs Blackburn Rovers

Phillips chose the Baggies over Derby County in the summer, despite an extremely impressive showing for the Rams on loan in 2024/25.

Nevertheless, he picked up from where he left off with his form and he was monumental for Mason on his debut at The Hawthorns.

The ex-Liverpool centre-back made 10 headed clearances from 13 clearances in total. He also successfully completed two tackles and made two interceptions.

Blackburn were unable to find a way past Phillips all game, and West Brom supporters will be extremely excited to see the 28-year-old in action once again in the Carabao Cup against Derby on Tuesday evening in B71.

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Nat Phillips will only get better this season

While he was with the Rams, it took the defender a little bit of time to find consistency as Paul Warne opted for the pairing of Curtis Nelson and Eiran Cashin.

However, eventually, Derby went into a three centre-back formation and this saw Phillips get the minutes that he needed and he quickly became an important cog in the team. This then continued under John Eustace.

Giving the ex-Celtic loanee time to grow into the campaign will be crucial, but this debut is a fantastic example of exactly what West Brom are going to see from him in the years to come.

It may be a little too early to put signing of the summer shouts in already, but more showings like Saturday will only help Phillips become even more comfortable in his surroundings.