The latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive as the Blues are preparing to part ways with an experienced center back.
Birmingham City defender Kevin Long is close to joining Canadian club Toronto FC, BirminghamLive understands.
The 33-year-old will join the MLS franchise sometime next week after the trade is finalized, bringing his 13-month Blues tenure to an end.
Long, who was not included in the match-day squad that faced Sunderland on Saturday, was signed on a free transfer after his long tenure with Burnley ended, and he settled in well after some early struggles.
He became an important player as John Eustace kept Blues out of relegation trouble and the season started brightly after the summer takeover. However, he fell out of favour under Wayne Rooney, sustained an injury, and has been in and out of Tony Mowbray’s squad.
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The current Blues manager has added Krystian Bielik to his centre-back options, Dion Sanderson is close to returning to fitness, Marc Roberts has made a good recovery, and Emanuel Aiwu, Cody Drameh, and even Lee Buchanan can all play centre-half.
If Long completes the deal, he will join a Toronto team in the last stages of preparing for the new MLS season, with one more pre-season encounter remaining. He has played 40 games with the Blues.
Toronto begins their season on February 25 against Cincinnati, competes in the Eastern Conference, and is managed by Englishman John Herdman.
