Exclusive: Birmingham City man Krystian Bielik set to join West Brom | OneFootball

The Blues man is set to join the Baggies

Birmingham City defender Krystian Bielik will complete a switch to West Bromwich Albion in the next 24 hours, Football League World understands.

The Poland international has decided the next chapter in his career will be at the Hawthorns.

Four clubs were interested in acquiring his services and the 27-year-old has chosen the Baggies will be his next destination.

Portsmouth were the other Championship outfit interested in him - but the former Arsenal trainee has a settled base in the Midlands and did not want to uproot.

Bielik will bolster the backline for Ryan Mason as they had off-loaded Tobjorn Heggem to Bologna in a deal valued at £10m.

With Kyle Bartley also calling time on his own career following a battle to shake off a long-standing injury problem, West Brom were light on centre-backs.

And the versatile Bielik also offers up the possibility of playing in midfield for rookie boss Mason.

Birmingham have been under pressure to claw back some of their outlay this summer and will be pleased with the return.

They have banked a fee in excess of £1m for the player who gave good service during his time at St Andrew’s.

He will be remembered fondly by the Birmingham faithful for staying at the club following its demotion to League One two seasons ago.

But he became a marginalised figure as Chris Davies powered the Blues forward and a move became a formality as the summer window wore on.

Bielik is expected to link up with his new team-mates immediately, with Albion keen to integrate him into first-team training ahead of their next league fixture.

His experience at both club and international level will be seen as a vital asset for a side with promotion ambitions.