According to rumors, Birmingham City and fellow League One club Cambridge United have reached an agreement for Emmanuel Longelo to leave on loan.
The 23-year-old is close to joining the third-tier club after being with the Blues since 2022. His debut season with the club, initially on loan from Premier League side West Ham United, was marred by injury, limiting him to only 25 games, 23 of which were in the Championship.
The left-sided defender signed a permanent agreement in January 2023 worth over £400,000, according to Football.London.
His second season at the club was once again disrupted; he started well, making 17 games in the first half of the season, but did not appear again after mid-January. In the 24/25 season, he has yet to appear in a matchday squad.
According to Pete O’Rourke, he is expected to join Cambridge United on loan. On Twitter (X), he stated:
“Birmingham City defender Emmanuel Longelo has agreed a deal to join Cambridge on loan.”
Birmingham City Big Spending?
There were concerns about Birmingham City’s big spending at the start of the season, but their free spending sprees, which appeared to be ongoing, have finally come to an end, with signings such as Alfie May, Willum Willumson, and Mark Leonard all joining the squad before the season begins.
With such a large and expensive roster, managers may struggle to manage the expectations of all of their players. Manager Chris Davies has already criticized the League One rule allowing only seven players to sit on the bench, requesting that it be extended to nine in accordance with other competitions.
However, few, if any, other managers have complained about this ruling, which may be typical of the huge squad that the inexperienced manager must keep pleased. If you can afford to leave players like Tyler Roberts out of your matchday squad, perhaps your squad is too large rather than the league’s rules being overly restrictive.
