Birmingham City transfer claim made on out of favour player - he could play in the "Premier League" | OneFootball

FLW’s Birmingham City fan pundit has reacted to Marc Leonard’s decision to remain at the club beyond this summer.

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 have started their return to the Championship in positive fashion, but their large squad could prove quite problematic when it comes to keeping all players happy with game-time.

Chris Davies’ men have collected seven points from their opening four league games, winning two, drawing one and tasting their first defeat just before the international break at Leicester City.

The West Midlands outfit will be aiming to bounce back when they make the short trip to the Bet365 Stadium to take on Stoke City, holding ambitions to rise up the table and contending for those promotion places.

Over the course of the summer, the club was expectedly backed financially by owner Tom Wagner, with the squad requiring a revamp to deal with the challenges every team faces in a second-tier season.

In total, Blues brought in 14 new players, while sanctioning the exits of 15 first-team figures to balance the books.

It may have been expected for midfielder Marc Leonard to be added to the departures lounge, but he has decided to remain in the West Midlands and fight for his place, despite suffering a lack of game-time and being linked with a move to Huddersfield Town back in July.

Marc Leonard backed to be a success for Birmingham City this season

With Leonard now remaining at the club, FLW’s Birmingham City fan pundit Birmingham City fan pundit Jason Moore has admitted that he isn’t surprised to see Leonard remain at the club after he didn’t secure a move away earlier in the transfer window, while believing he has the talent to be a Premier League level player in the future.

Jason told FLW: “I thought if Marc Leonard was going to go, he was going to go earlier in the window, so I guess it’s not too much of a surprise (to see him stay).

“He seems to be rated quite highly within the club, and he’s potentially someone who can grow with us as he’s still young.

“I think he probably wanted a move, but I think the club wanted to keep him. He’s even come out in an interview after having a conversation with Chris Davies as that was the main reason he stayed.

“I’m not surprised he stayed as if he was going to have a move, it would have been earlier in the summer, as there was no way we would let him go and not have a decent replacement for him.

“He might not start a lot of games, but there’s still a good player in there, he’s just got to tweak a few things, and he can be a really bright player. He’s definitely got the potential to be a Premier League level player.

“I thought he would have moved earlier on, but I’m glad he hasn’t.”

Marc Leonard will want regular game-time to justify Birmingham City stay

Now that Marc Leonard has opted to remain at St Andrew’s, there will be an expectation that his minutes in the second-tier will increase between now and January.

So far this term, Leonard has been an unused substitute for all four of their league outings, with the midfield partnership of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata unable to be dislodged - Tommy Doyle is also waiting in the wings for his chance to shine if he's able to grasp it.

Despite the Scot only featuring 14 times in League One from the starting lineup last season too, Leonard continuously drew praise when selected for his technical ability mixed with great off-the-ball tenacity.

Those attributes could make him a real asset at Championship level, and you wonder whether Chris Davies may have to tweak his system to allow Leonard to come in to make his mark on the side.

You have to feel it’s the last chance saloon for Leonard’s career at Birmingham City, as he is a player of too much quality to be sitting on the bench week in, week out much longer.