Birmingham City have sealed the capture of Chelsea midfielder Jake Clarke-Salter on a season-long loan deal, the club confirmed on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old signed a contract extension at Stamford Bridge following his successful loan spell with Dutch side Vitesse last season, and he will now link up with the Blues for the 2019/20 season.

Clarke-Salter made 34 appearances in the Eredivisie last season and his performances saw him attract interest from a host of Championship clubs this summer, but he opted to head to St Andrews.

The England Under-21 captain becomes Birmingham's third signing during a turbulent summer which has seen the likes of Che Adams and Jota depart, while Pep Clotet has replaced Garry Monk as manager.

So, could Clarke-Salter be exactly the player need to help Birmingham kick on next season?

We take a closer look at the stats...

Clarke-Salter played a starring role at the back for Vitesse last term, as he missed just five league matches for Chelsea's sister club. This saw him play 3711 minutes in total and gain valuable senior experience against a good standard of opposition, but he will now benefit further from a full season with Birmingham in the second tier.

It is easy to see why Clarke-Salter was such an attractive proposition for a number of Championship clubs this summer, as he is so composed with the ball at his feet and recorded a 88.3% pass success rate last season. It is impressive that Clarke-Salter has the footballing intelligence to maintain this record over the course of a full season, and this also indicates the style of football Clotet may be looking to play at St Andrews next term. The fact he attempted an average of 5.38 long passes per game could suggest he prefers playing a short passing game, but he still possesses the passing ability to perform a range of passes. Therefore, it will be no surprise to see the defender start Birmingham attacks from deep in the 2019/20 season.

It is also important to note that Clarke-Salter is primarily impressive in defence as this is his most familiar role. This means he will also bring a strong and commanding presence to Blues' back line, and the fact he won 67.2% of his duels at Vitesse shows that he is nothing short of a warrior on the pitch. Furthermore, he is sharp and athletic which enabled him to make an average of 5.55 interceptions per game. This shows he is not just a hard-fighting defender, but he also has excellent match awareness and he will only develop this further next term. The fact he was a regular throughout last term and only managed to pick up three yellow cards also shows that he is disciplined in the tackle.

Clarke-Salter is clearly a professional, level-headed player who is supremely talented, and it is hard to pick any fault in his game from this collection of statistics. Performing in the Championship will be a very different proposition to playing in the Eredivisie, but all the signs suggest Clarke-Salter is up to the challenge.