Birmingham City want Tahith Chong back on loan next season.
The Second City club will ask Manchester United if they will again send the exciting 22-year-old away from Old Trafford to St Andrew’s to build up his first-team experience. Brum’s hierarchy, consisting of boss Lee Bowyer and technical director Craig Gardner, are keen to oversee another year of his development.
Chong has proved a big hit at St Andrew’s and was a bright spark during an otherwise drab opening half to the season. He has adapted well to the demands of the Championship but his campaign was ruined when he had to undergo surgery on a groin problem that ended up sidelining him for over four months.
However, the playmaker is back in the fold and will be part of Bowyer’s side facing West Brom in this Sunday's derby. United retain hopes he will make the breakthrough at Old Trafford. Technical director Darren Fletcher confirmed the club had taken up the year’s option on his contract 48 hours ago.
He also wanted to see how the former Feyenoord youngster shaped up during United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. However, if Birmingham decide to press ahead with an offer to take Chong on loan they may have to wait. The Red Devils are in action Down Under on July 19 - and the next Championship campaign kicks off 11 days later.
That means Brum could be sweating on the decision until just before the next season gets underway due to the fixture re-arrangement ahead of November’s World Cup. Chong, who has capped by the Netherlands at every youth level up to the U21s, is in the third loan move of his career having had previous spells at Werder Bremen and Club Brugge. He has made 18 appearances for Birmingham, scoring his first goal for them against Bristol City at the start of March.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Chong made the grade at United? Let us know in the comments section
Blues boss Bowyer claimed his side's campaign might have panned out differently if they would have had the attack-minded Chong available for longer. He said last month: "Chongy is a player that is learning the game, that is what he was doing here, learning and improving. It was just unlucky that it got cut a little bit short. He has been a big miss for us.
"At the start of the season when we had him we created and we looked so dangerous in near enough every game – even when we lost. He was a big player for us and to not have him for four-and-a-half months was a long time.
"He was our most creative player, so to not have him for that long we have definitely missed him for sure. He is very good at twisting and turning, he is a tricky player. When he is fully fit then he is even more exciting to watch. He has been out a long time. I think he is a good player, he has obviously been unlucky this season with his injury. It was a freak one so he didn’t play as much football as Chongy or Manchester United would have liked.
