Exclusive: Birmingham City and Man City agree to terms for Jan

According to sources that spoke with Football Insider, Mike Rigg has decided to join Birmingham City and will start working there in a recruitment capacity in January.

He will be employed by the academy at first, but as part of a gradual change at St Andrew’s, he will be actively involved in selecting players for the starting squad.

After joining Al-Jazira in October 2022, the 53-year-old is currently employed there as sporting director in the United Arab Emirates.

The Blues’ interest in Rigg was first made public by Football Insider on October 10, not long after Wayne Rooney took over as manager from John Eustace.

As part of Birmingham’s newest transformation, CEO Garry Cook is excited to have him join the backroom team.

Between 2008 until 2012, Rigg served as Man City’s sporting director, where they collaborated.

Currently holding a tight contract with the Midlands club, Craig Gardner is expected to remain in his role as technical director for Birmingham.

With the advent of new owners Shelby Companies Limited in July, the Blues signed no fewer than twelve players to the first team during the summer transfer window.

Among those that arrived at St. Andrew’s were Siriki Dembélé, Krystian Bielik, and Dion Sanderson.

When Rooney took over for Eustace earlier this month, he has dropped his last three games.

On Saturday, October 28, the new manager suffered his most recent loss away to Southampton, as the south coast team prevailed 3-1.

Birmingham currently has 18 points, 14th place in the Championship standings.

After 11 games, they had secured a postseason spot—before former boss Eustace was removed of his responsibilities.