Manchester United youngster Tahith Chong is on the verge of completing a loan move to Championship side Birmingham City, reports The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath. The signing of Chong will be a massive boost for Lee Bowyer’s Birmingham, who are looking to improve on a disappointing 18th-place finish in England’s second-tier last season.
Tahith Chong Set for Birmingham City Loan
Previous Loans
Despite making a handful of appearances for United, Chong has spent the majority of his senior career out on loan. This, though, will be his first loan in England, having previously spent time in Germany with Werder Bremen and in Belgium with Club Brugge.
Chong joined Bremen at the start of last season and went on to make 13 appearances for the Bundesliga side. He scored his first and only goal for the club in a DFB-Pokal match against fourth-tier side FC Carl Zeiss Jena.
After his loan in Germany was cut short in January, Chong joined up with Belgian First Division A outfit Club Brugge, scoring on his debut in a Belgian Cup match against Olsa Brakel.
The Next Step
While these previous loan moves may not have gone quite to plan, at 21-years-old, Chong still has a lot of time to improve.
United must be confident in his ability to send him to a league as competitive as the Championship, and particularly to a club who, realistically, could be fighting against the drop once more this season.
However, if Birmingham can pull off more moves in a similar vein to this one, they’ll have every chance of pulling clear of the drop zone once it reaches the business end of the season.
Chong had previously had interest from Inter Milan in a permanent deal, but Manchester United move quickly to tie him to a new contract instead, signalling their intent to keep the player long-term.
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