Birmingham City: "Premier League" Ethan Laird claim issued amid Bright Osayi-Samuel "upgrade" talk | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham fan pundit has given his verdict on whether Bright Osayi-Samuel will compete with Ethan Laird for game time this season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Birmingham City are closing in on a deal to sign Bright Osayi-Samuel following his exit from Fenerbahce - and that could end up meaning reduced game-time for Ethan Laird.

It was reported by Mike McGrath earlier this week that Blues are close to agreeing terms with the full-back, who is currently a free agent after his departure from the Istanbul outfit.

The defender made the move to Turkish football in 2021, and has been a key figure for the team under the likes of Jorge Jesus and Jose Mourinho.

Chris Davies will be hoping that Osayi-Samuel’s potential arrival can help boost squad depth amid their ambitions to immediately fight at the top end of the Championship next season.

Birmingham City claim issued on Bright Osayi-Samuel - he may not be an Ethan Laird upgrade

When asked how Ethan Laird’s place could be impacted by Osayi-Samuel’s arrival, FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit Jason Moore claimed that the 27-year-old may not necessarily be an upgrade at right-back.

However, he believes the added competition could be a positive in order to push Laird, who he suggested is a potential Premier League player.

“I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know everything about his (Osayi-Samuel's) game - I can just go off what I’ve seen when he played against Blues,” Moore told Football League World.

“And, to be fair, there was a game where he pretty much ran the length of the field past all of our players to score a goal, granted it was a crap team but he still did it.

“So, he’s got pace, he seems to be a powerful player.

“I don’t know if he’s necessarily an upgrade on Ethan Laird.

“Ethan Laird has got a very, very high ceiling, he’s just had injury problems himself.

“I think Ethan Laird is genuinely a Premier League right-back, but I guess you can’t knock the fact he’s been playing in Turkey for Fenerbahce, so it means he was playing European football.

“So potentially it’s an upgrade, but I don’t actually see him coming straight away and displacing Ethan Laird.

“I know it was League One football, but Ethan Laird was superb last season, absolutely fantastic.

“I think the fact he started looking after his body, listening to his body, the whole Tom Brady factor of bringing in his nutritionists, all that stuff behind the scenes has helped him and we’re actually starting to see the player that we thought we were having in our relegation season.

“So I don’t know if it’s necessarily an upgrade, it’s 100 per cent competition.”

Ethan Laird may be encouraged by fresh right-back competition at St. Andrew's

Moore has highlighted the competition between goalkeepers from last season as an example Birmingham might be trying to repeat at right-back, which he has encouraged ahead of the new campaign.

Loanee turned permanent signing Alfons Sampsted barely got a look-in last season ahead of Laird, so it can be presumed that he will drop to third-choice by Davies when the arrival of Osayi-Samuel is confirmed.

“I think they’ll treat the right-back position now as what they did last season with the goalkeeper, we’ve got two right-backs one of you earn it,” Jason continued.

“Last season our goalkeeper, it started out with Peacock-Farrell, then Allsop took the spot.

“It could be the same this season, Laird starts which I fully think he will, and Osayi-Samuel might take it.

“We’ll wait and see.

“As long as we’ve got competition all over the field, which is what they want, I think most need as well, two good players in every position.

“Upgrade though, I’m not too sure.”

Adding competition at right-back for ex-Man United youngster Laird might be what he needs to find another level ahead of Birmingham’s return to the Championship.

He was a key part of their League One title triumph last year, and will now be looking to show his level this year in the second tier.

Injuries have also hurt his career so far, having played just 60 out of Birmingham's 92 league matches that he's been at the club for in the past two seasons, so having someone to push him should add some cover in case he does have fitness problems again.

Given Osayi-Samuel is available as a free agent, this could prove a shrewd piece of business for Birmingham, who are adding a player with international and European experience to compete with a 23-year-old that already has plenty of EFL games under his belt.