Exclusive: Don Goodman hails “win-win” deal between Birmingham City and West Brom | OneFootball

Don Goodman has spoken exclusively to FLW to discuss Krystian Bielik's imminent move from Birmingham to West Brom.

Birmingham City’s Krystian Bielik is set to join fellow Championship side West Bromwich Albion.

The move was exclusively revealed by Football League World on Thursday, with the Baggies having beaten Portsmouth and other division rivals to the deal.

Bielik can play at centre-back and in a holding midfield role, offering adaptability to Ryan Mason and also filling the gap left by Torbjorn Heggem’s £10m move to Bologna.

We asked pundit Don Goodman whether he feels the deal works for both parties.

Bielik will have better access to minutes at West Brom, according to Don Goodman

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman said: “Honestly, I think that would be a brilliant, brilliant signing for West Bromwich Albion.

“The lads that currently occupy that midfield area, and I presume they'd be buying him as a utility player really, can slot into the central defensive areas.

“But for me, I've seen him at his best in that holding-midfield role.

“West Brom started against Blackburn with Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby, two very good players for the level, but they do lack that massive physical presence that Krystian Bielik would provide.

“He's not going to oust [Seung-ho] Paik or [Tomoki] Iwata from what I have seen. Obviously, [Marc] Leonard started the Carabao Cup game for Birmingham as well, ahead of him.

“So yeah, I think it would be a win-win and a really good signing for West Bromwich Albion.”

Bielik deal works for all parties

Despite the £10m fee, Heggem is a huge loss for West Brom and leaves a hole in their defensive unit.

The Norway international started all but one of the Baggies’ Championship games last term; a dependable figure both in terms of ability and availability.

With Bielik, they are replacing exactly that, with the 27-year-old having played 35, 36 and 32 league games in consecutive seasons for the Blues, despite a turbulent few years.

With the players and budget now at Birmingham’s disposal, however, Bielik’s position is in danger, but he still has plenty to offer, so filling the gap at the Hawthorns makes perfect sense.

His adaptability will also give Mason plenty of options for the upcoming weeks and months, having bolstered the defensive unit further with Nat Phillips and George Campbell, from Liverpool and Montreal respectively.

All eyes will be on Ryan Mason now

Having added Championship-proven quality to make up for the departure of Heggem, and also boosted the defensive midfield area at the same time, West Brom’s squad looks in pretty good shape.

That means that, provided they can hold their other key players until the transfer window shuts, all eyes will be on how Mason handles his first senior, permanent manager role.

He got off to a great start with a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, and now faces recently promoted Wrexham as his next challenge.

Southampton almost came unstuck against the Red Dragons, so they’re sure to be no pushovers in their first home game of the Championship season.