Former Celtic midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu has been given a trial with Birmingham City, according to local outlet Birmingham Live.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes for Birmingham’s under-23s this afternoon against Crewe. Birmingham confirmed in a tweet that the Congolese midfielder had been training with them for the last couple of weeks.
And Birmingham Live believe that he’s on trial with the Blues to cover a shortage of central midfield options. The Championship side are without Josh McEachran and David Davis due to a long-term injury and the latter’s loan departure.
Mulumbu has been without a club since May after spending the second half of last season on-loan at Kilmarnock. Signed by Brendan Rodgers for Celtic back in the summer of 2018, he only made three appearances for the Hoops in his one-year spell here (Transfermarkt).
It also looked as though Mulumbu could’ve been heading back to Scotland in January too. He didn’t rule out a potential return to Kilmarnock in comments published by the Scottish Sun back in December.
A good move for a player who deserves a break
Mulumbu will hopefully be able to thrive with Birmingham. The Championship is a competition he knows extremely well after making over 50 appearances in it with West Brom and Norwich City (Transfermarkt).
However, it’s also a standard of football that he may have been surprised to get a move to. After all, his last game was back in May 2019 for Kilmarnock. He won’t be match-sharp regardless of his fitness levels, and it could take him a bit of time to get settled into things once again.
It looks seriously unlikely that Mulumbu will be playing Premiership football next season, however. If Birmingham do give him a contract, they’re not in a position that suggests they’ll get promotion.
The Blues sit nine points behind sixth-placed Preston, with a further eight clubs separating them from the playoff spots. It would take a minor miracle and a huge run of form for Birmingham to propel themselves back into contention.
But regardless it’s still a good level for Mulumbu to return to if he can make an impression. He certainly deserves a break in the game too after the struggles he’s had since he signed for us.
How do you think Mulumbu will fare in the Championship if he gets a contract? Is that the right level for him? Why did it go so wrong at Celtic for the Ivorian? Let us know in the discussion forum below.
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