Birmingham City right to be "ruthless" and send "passenger" to League One | OneFootball

FLW's bluenose Fan Pundit expressed his thoughts on the loan move

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…

26-year-old Swedish winger, Emil Hansson, has moved to Blackpool on a season-long loan deal from Birmingham City.

The temporary move to Bloomfield Road offers Hansson a chance to rebuild his reputation under experienced manager Steve Bruce - who has managed over 800 league games throughout his career. The winger played 45 minutes in the Tangerine's opening game against Stevenage.

Hansson scored 16 goals and managed 19 assists in his penultimate Eredivisie season with Heracles, and moved to the West Midlands for a reported fee of £1.5m.

It was exclusively revealed by FLW that the Swede was omitted from Blues' pre-season squad along with four others as Chris Davies looked to re-shape his squad for 25/26.

Emil Hansson was a "passenger" for Birmingham City

FLW's bluenose Fan Pundit, Jason Moore, expressed no regrets about the loan move - despite the winger's undoubted talent when fit.

"It’s 100% the right call, he’s been too much of a passenger for us. He looked like a real player for us to be fair but his body just kept breaking down and we’ve got to be ruthless unfortunately," Moore told FLW.

After joining on a three-year deal, Hansson only managed just 20 appearances in League One, with his campaign hugely disrupted by multiple fitness issues, including a calf injury that sidelined him for nearly a month.

"The club have got their aims where they want to go and we can’t have any passengers. He was a passenger last season and that was in League One where obviously we set point records and whatnot and that was without him," he continued.

Blues right to be "ruthless" regarding Hansson

The reunion of Demarai Gray from Al-Ettifaq has further pushed Hansson down the pecking order at St Andrews. The Jamica international winger, who previously enjoyed success at Leicester City and Everton, does represent exactly the calibre of player Birmingham are targeting as they prepare for Championship football.

"With the calibre of player they’re after, you can’t have passengers, and you need to be ruthless, and they’ll be aiming for a very high pedigree player anyway - and they’ve just signed Demarai Gray which is his position," Moore explained. "You had Anderson that played amazing last season which is his position."

Keshi Anderson, who used to play for Hansson's new club - Blackpool - emerged as one of Birmingham's standout performers during their promotion-winning campaign, contributing seven goals and five assists in 37 league appearances.

The 30-year-old's consistent productivity, whilst being available throughout the season, highlighted the stark contrast with his Swedish counterpart's injury-disrupted debut campaign.

Chris Davies will be eyeing Championship success

Moore's words reflect Birmingham's approach under manager Chris Davies, who guided the club to an immediate return to the second-tier with a record-breaking point tally of 111.

"He’s (Hansson) low down the pecking order so yeah it just makes sense on loads of different points. To be fair after his last injury, I think it was like March time, I think i was calling for it - get rid."

The Fan Pundit's frustration with Hansson's fitness is understandable given Birmingham's ambitious project under American ownership. With big investment in the squad and expectations of challenging for promotion to the Premier League, there is little room for players who cannot contribute consistently.

"I’m sort of on the same viewpoint as Scott Wright, but yeah, 100% the right decision for the club to let him go. Fingers crossed he has a good season at Blackpool, stays injury-free, and then we can recoup some of the money that we paid for him," Moore concluded.

Obviously, the loan arrangement allows Blues to maintain their investment in Hansson while giving the player an opportunity to prove his worth in regular first-team football.

Should he stay fit and perform well for Bruce's side, it could very well increase his value and potentially lead to a permanent move away from the West Midlands.