"Shocked" - Claim made on future of two Birmingham City stars amid Chris Davies omission reveal | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham fan pundit has been discussing Emil Hansson and Alfons Sampsted's omission from the club's pre-season trip to Portugal.

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 gained promotion to the Championship at the first attempt last season, with the big-spending Blues dominating the third-tier and amassing a new EFL record for a points tally as they hit 111 points in League One.

As they make the step up back to the second-tier, Birmingham have remained busy in this summer’s transfer window as they seek to challenge for promotion once again and return to the Premier League for the first time since 2011.

As the Second City club head off for some pre-season training in Portugal, Football League World exclusively revealed that a few players have been omitted from the squad, with the expectation now that they are moved on.

Among that group are Swedish winger Emil Hansson and Icelandic full-back Alfons Sampsted, and our Birmingham City fan pundit has expressed his shock at the decision, but understands why.

Birmingham looking to be ruthless this summer - Hansson and Sampsted claims made

In a summer of big spending last year, Hansson arrived at St Andrews from Heracles Almelo for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.5 million.

Sampsted, on the other hand, initially spent last season on loan from FC Twente, but that deal became permanent this summer.

Despite that, Birmingham have decided to omit them from their pre-season trip to Portugal, and FLW’s Birmingham fan pundit, Jason Moore, is surprised by the decision, but understands why it has been made.

Jason said: “It is a shock in the sense of we spent quite a lot of money on (Emil) Hansson and (Alfons) Sampsted has only just become permanent, but I guess they’re having to be ruthless.

“Chris Davies definitely didn’t fancy Sampsted, he didn’t trust him defensively. Whenever he played Sampsted, you could always see Davies going crazy at him. I quite liked the look of Sampsted.

“I guess if you’re bringing Bright (Osayi-Samuel) in and you’ve got Ethan (Laird) there, they are two quality right-backs and so not too surprised about that one, but a little bit disappointed.

“We spent quite a bit of money on him (Hansson). I thought they were going to give him a bit of a chance but I am quite happy about that one.

“His body broke down too much for me to warrant trying to keep him, and he didn’t look amazing, to be fair, when he played. For a winger, he never, ever took his man on.

“I’m shocked at them both, but I’m not too shocked in the sense of you can understand why they’re going to move them on. I’m more shocked at the Hansson one, purely because of the money they spent.”

Birmingham seeking back-to-back promotions - Sampsted and Hansson look set to play no part in it

Birmingham are seeking a return to the top-flight of English football under the ambitious ownership of Tom Wagner, with the American once again investing into the club both on and off the pitch.

So far this summer, Birmingham have been busy with Sampsted’s loan being made a permanent move alongside Taylor Gardner-Hickman, who has now joined permanently from Bristol City.

Phil Neumann signed a pre-contract agreement in January to join on a free transfer from Hannover, whilst James Beadle and Tommy Doyle have arrived on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.

Demarai Gray has also returned to the club after his stint in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq, whilst Bright Osayi-Samuel and Kanya Fujimoto have signed on free transfers from Fenerbahçe and Gil Vicente respectively.

Perhaps the most eye-catching addition is that of former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi, who has signed from Ligue 1 club Rennes for an undisclosed fee.

Signings like Furuhashi and Gray in particular are statements of intent for a Birmingham side looking to be ruthless and ambitious in their pursuit of Premier League football, and particularly in the case of Hansson, push him further down the pecking order at St Andrew's.

As for Sampsted, seeing two new right-backs in Gardner-Hickman and Osayi-Samuel join a group which already has Ethan Laird in there, he also appears to have tumbled right to the bottom of the depth chart in that department.

Therefore, with further incomings expected, Birmingham will have to make room for their new arrivals with the sales of fringe players, and both Hansson and Sampsted appear to be firmly in that category.