West Ham United defender Manny Longelo is close to making his debut for Championship loan club Birmingham City.
In the closing days of the summer transfer window, Longelo completed a season-long switch to the Blues, just hours after Hammers winger Armstrong Okoflex joined Swansea City on loan in the same league, having made his first-team debut five days earlier.
While Okoflex has made two substitute appearances for the Swans in wins over Queens Park Rangers and Hull City, Longelo is yet to play for the Blues, having sustained an ankle ligament injury during West Ham’s pre-season win over Swiss side Servette.
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Although Longelo has not made his first-team debut for Birmingham yet, he has played twice for the club’s under-21s, playing 55 minutes in a 5-0 win over Colchester United and the first half of a 4-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Blues boss John Eustace is hoping that the current international break will allow Longelo time to return to full fitness and that could put him in line for a debut against Sheffield United on Saturday, October 1.
“I certainly hope he can feature when we return,” Eustace told BirminghamLive. “He has been with us now for two weeks, he has managed to get two or three games in, he will have another couple of games over the international break and let’s see where his fitness is then. He will certainly have come in to play.
“Unfortunately when we signed him he didn’t have a preseason, he had an injury and we had to manage him but he is getting closer and closer.
“There has been a lot of research put into him coming in, he is very athletic left back/ left wing back. He is a left footer which obviously we are kind of struggling to have in the building at the moment. I am very hopeful he is going to come in and improve the team.”
Longelo has two senior appearances for West Ham to his name. His debut came in a Carabao Cup win over Hull City in September 2020, coming off the bench of a 5-1 win. Last season, Longelo made his second outing in a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, playing the duration of the Europa League group stage match at home to the Croatian side.
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