Barnsley have had their bid for Birmingham City defender Emmanuel Longelo accepted, according to Sky Sports News’ Tim Thornton.
With plenty of significant additions at St. Andrew’s this summer, it is also expected that a couple of names will also be leaving Blues this window. One of them now looks to be Longelo, who has only spent 18 months permanently with the club.
Having initially impressed when on loan from West Ham United during the first half of the 2022/23 season, the defender’s loan was made a permanent deal in the January of 2023. Longelo would cost then then Championship-outfit just shy of £400,000 and its fair to say that he probably hasn’t quite hit the heights that were initially thought that he could for the club.
Including the loan spell, the 23-year-old has made just 45 senior appearances for Birmingham and his move seems to have really not worked out. With just two appearances to his name in 2024, one of those coming in an FA Cup replay, it doesn’t come as much as a surprise to see him moving on this summer, especially with the club looking to rebuild following their relegation to the third tier.
Longelo was held in an extremely high regard after coming through West Ham’s academy but he hasn’t necessarily translated his impressive performances during his youth days over to the senior game. Nonetheless, a change of scenery could indeed get his career back on track and he still retains plenty of potential.
A move for the left-sided defender now seems on the horizon with Sky Sports News revealing that Barnsley have had their bid for the defender accepted by Blues. Now considered direct rivals, it could well be a decent move for the 23-year-old, who will get the chance to play his former club in the forthcoming season.
Much like Birmingham, the Tykes are also going through somewhat of a rebuild this summer although potentially not to the same extent. Darrell Clarke is now at the helm and he will have the entirety of the window to bring in the players he wants going forward.
There are no doubt some risks attached to the signing of Longelo, but it is one which could bring plenty of rewards.
Writer’s View
After being left out of the squad for Birmingham’s pre-season trip to Austria, it seemed highly likely that Longelo would be on his way out this summer. Although he is being sold to what is theoretically a direct rival, it’s unlikely that Blues’ hierarchy will be too worried.
Following on from back-to-back losses in the play-offs, Barnsley will be hoping that it will be third time lucky, now under Darrell Clarke. They do however face what can be considered an uphill battle with the third tier looking stronger than ever. Nonetheless they do seem to have some sort of direction and the addition of Longelo could indeed help their promotion aspirations.
