Welcome to BirminghamLive’s coverage of all things Birmingham City – let’s start with a strange link,
Fab
Birmingham City has been linked with a move for former Liverpool and Sunderland striker Fabio Borini.
Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claims the 30-year-old is of interest to the blues, who want to strengthen their attack capabilities.
He linked Borini with the Blues technical director Craig Gardner, who was a teammate of Borini at the Stadium of Light.
The pair spent the 2013/2014 season together, with Borini scoring ten goals in 40 games, Gardner three in 26 and the Black Cats making the League Cup final and finishing 14th in the Premier League.
Borini was on loan from Liverpool at the time and later joined permanently after struggling to make a name for himself on Anfield.
He played for Milan, Hellas Verona and signed with Super Lig club Fatih Karagümrük in December 2020.
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Flying winger
Birmingham City are reportedly hoping to sign Manchester United youngster Tahith Chong.
The Telegraph claims the 21-year-old could become the Blues’ fifth signing this summer and would be something of a coup for head coach Lee Bowyer and technical director Craig Gardner.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s appointment as coach, the winger has made 16 appearances for United, including in the Premier League, Europa League and Champions League.
He spent the past season at Werder Bremen, where it was difficult for him to assert himself with the Bundesliga team, and at Club Bruges, where he had a more productive time.
He has played on the right wing for most of his career but can also operate on the left side.
Chong would join Jordan Graham as a new addition on the flank and challenge first team members Jeremie Bela and Ivan Sanchez.
Chong was once considered the next big star off the Old Trafford production line but suffered a knee injury as a U18 player that cost him 10 months.
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useful information
Who is he?
A 21-year-old winger who was born in Curaçao and moved to the Netherlands, signing with Feyenoord at the age of ten.
At the age of 14 he was known all over Europe and attracted the interest of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
He looked like he would be staying with Feyenoord but blaming the lack of a “plan” to keep him responsible and opting for a move to Old Trafford instead.
United had been briefed on him ahead of the Nike Premier Cup, which was held at their Carrington training base in 2015, and made the move a year later.
Attracted by a more obvious route to the first team, he opted for the Red Devils.
Big step
He started his first youth season well and scored a great goal in the 2016/2017 FA Youth Cup loss to Southampton, which led coach Kieran McKenna to say: he’s just a fantastic professional.
“He’s very personable and good with the staff and the players, which helped him settle in quickly. Everyone on the pitch was enthusiastic about his achievements; he’s a conspicuous player. “
However, that early swing was derailed by a knee injury in an academy game with Everton.
He was back in November 2017 and made his comeback with a goal against Manchester City – and quickly promoted to the U23, where he defeated James Garner to earn the 2018 Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year.
That brought him to the attention of Jose Mourinho, and that summer he was taken on the first-team tour to the United States, which featured in four games, including against Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
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Make your mark
If it’s the life experience Mark Kennedy wants, he could have done a lot worse than coming to Birmingham City, a club that measures seasons in dog years.
While others go through 46-game campaigns, hoping for a cup run or two, and are usually confident of which division they’ll be playing in by March, Blues operate at a different pace.
Coach in, relegation battle, stay on top, new players, hope in the pre-season, dwindling results, coach out, manager in … five seasons in one, repeat endlessly.
Make no mistake, Mark Kennedy is very into the life experience business.
So much so that in January 2020 he became the third coach in Macclesfield’s troubled season. Where Sol Campbell and Daryl McMahon had stepped back from him, Kennedy actively sought an opportunity that he knew was a “freeway convoy.”
The financially troubled Moss Rose team was 22nd in the second division, had already deducted six points, was on sale and had an HMRC execution contract.
“If the chairman had said to me, ‘We can’t bring you in, we have no money’. I would have said to him, ‘I’m going to pay you to let me in,’ the 45-year-old told BirminghamLive.
“I wanted this experience and that was the only reason I took this job. It was an absolute highway accident and I knew that before I drove in. That’s why I took it.
“You know what? When I got in it was worse, I loved every minute of it and I miss her.”
