Birmingham City rising star debuted by Wayne Rooney finalises shock Premier League exit

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A Premier League club have snapped up a hot prospect from Birmingham City on the deadline.

Brentford have completed the shock signing of Birmingham forward Romelle Donovan until the end of the season.

The Bees have been keeping tabs on Donovan’s progress and were eager to snap him up for their B team, persuading on the basis the teenager would gain regular minutes in Premier League 2. Brentford duly delivered on that promise, while Blues agreed that the best course of action was to loan their 18-year-old talent move to West London.

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Donovan spent the first half of the campaign on loan at fellow League One club Burton Albion but his spell at Pirelli Stadium was terminated early as Blues felt he wasn’t played often enough. The Brewers assured Donovan would be a regular starter throughout his loan but it didn’t turn out that way as he accumulated merely 324 minutes across all competitions, with just 176 of those coming in League One.

It’s hoped Brentford will be a better destination as Donovan seeks to progress closer to his potential. The England Under-19 international - now he has signed for the Bees - will join up with the B squad for the upcoming Atlantic Cup fixtures in Portugal.

Reacting to his new addition getting over the line, Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane said: "We look forward to working with Romelle in the months that remain of this season. We have a lot of exciting games to be played between now and the end of the season; Romelle will definitely add to our attacking options within the group.

"He is a player who has really good technical abilities aligned to our attacking style of play and he comes into a team that has been performing so well this season. We believe he can add goals and assists to further enhance the current group."

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Romelle Donovan a future star for Birmingham

First brought into the senior Blues fold by former Blues boss Wayne Rooney at the end of 2023, the versatile attacking midfielder has made 10 appearances for the club so far. Donovan definitely has the potential to become a key player one day due to his impressive footwork, vision and finishing.

The teenager is far from the finished product but he has a very high ceiling. Although not in Chris Davies’ current plans and hence the loan moves, the Blues head coach is eager to see how Donovan gets on in a different environment. Then, if all goes to plan, the forward could possibly enter the first-team fray at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.

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