How much Birmingham City could be saving on wages as Marc Leonard exit decision made | OneFootball

Marc Leonard is headed to Hearts from Birmingham City, but what could that mean financially for Blues in terms of wages?

Birmingham City midfielder Marc Leonard has made a temporary exit from St. Andrew's, with Chris Davies allowing the midfielder to head out on loan to former club Hearts until the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

Leonard's availability became clear recently, which saw the likes of QPR linked to the Blues midfielder. However, he will not be staying in the second tier with either side this month.

That's because Hearts have struck a deal for Leonard and the Scotsman is headed back to a club he spent time in the academy of, with Brighton signing Leonard from the leaders of the Scottish Premiership back in 2018.

The 24-year-old had loan spells with Northampton Town in League Two and League One before Birmingham City snapped him up permanently, with Leonard appearing 47 times in their promotion campaign in all competitions.

The amount of money Birmingham City could be saving on Marc Leonard's wages at Hearts

Leonard was tipped for a big season with Birmingham in League One last year, but in the Championship, he hasn't had the impact he would have liked as a regular fixture within Chris Davies' first-team plans.

Across a year-and-a-half with the club, Leonard has started 32 of the 64 games he has played for Blues, with the likes of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata ahead of him from the get-go.

Seven of his appearances came this season, with the 24-year-old clearly keen to feature regularly again. Iwata, Tommy Doyle, Paik and new-boy Jhon Solis will play the bulk of minutes at the base of midfield for the remainder of the campaign.

But how much are Birmingham saving on his weekly wage and how much are Hearts likely to be spending? As per Capology's estimates, Leonard is actually one of the lowest earners at St. Andrew's.

Leonard is said to earn around £6,500 weekly, just ahead of Lee Buchanan and level with Alfons Sampstead. Capology does not have estimates for each individual player but Hearts' most recent weekly estimate is £119,788 for the whole squad.

That is roughly a third of their current estimate for Blues, but Leonard is on an affordable wage for the Scottish outfit compared to some of Birmingham's highest paid players.

It's not clear what percentage of wages they will be picking up. However, it's fair to speculate that they will be paying most, if not all, of Leonard's salary north of the border. They will be doing so until the final week of June.

That means roughly £6,000 saved for the next 22 weeks, which is an overall saving of around £132,000 for Birmingham. It will also be a move that they hope kicks Leonard back into life, especially if he is part of a historic title win over both Rangers and Celtic.

Marc Leonard's Birmingham City career may be over as Blues ambitions rise

Leonard is a press-resistant midfielder with a broad range of passing, albeit most of his impressive displays have come in League One so far, with a fresh start possibly the tonic he needs to reinvigorate a recently stalling career.

There is no reason as to why he can't come back to Blues and have a career with the club if he's successful with Hearts, but on the flip side, a positive stint at Tynecastle could see him move back to the Jam Tarts on a permanent basis instead.

Tony Bloom - Brighton's owner who made a big investment in Hearts last year - is one of football's shrewdest operator, and his recruitment models that have worked so well with the Seagulls is paying dividends in Scotland too.

It wouldn't have taken anything ground-breaking to realise Leonard would be a good signing for Derek McInnes' side, but it could really help to restart his career, and it could pave the way for a permanent exit in the summer.