Championship side Birmingham City have confirmed on their official website the signing of Chelsea midfielder Jeremie Boga on loan for the rest of the 2017/18 season.

The 20-year-old began his youth career in France before moving to Stamford Bridge back in 2008, although the Ivory Coast international had to wait until this month to finally earn his senior debut for the Blues.

Boga has enjoyed loan spells at Rennes and Granada previously, but finally made an appearance for Antonio Conte’s first team just a few weeks ago by starting their 3-2 defeat to Burnley on the opening weekend of the season, although it lasted just 18 minutes as he was replaced following Gary Cahill’s red card.

And now the young midfielder will embark upon his first loan spell in English football, as he has officially signed for Harry Redknapp’s Birmingham for the remainder of the current campaign.

70-year-old Redknapp led the Blues to safety last term and subsequently signed a new one-year deal at the club, although is unlikely to be overly satisfied with their transfer activity so far this summer, as many moves haven’t quite come off just yet.

The Midlands outfit have added five permanent signings and Boga becomes the fourth loan signing through the door at St Andrew’s, and given that he has been in and around the Chelsea first team during pre-season and in the early stages of the campaign, he’s clearly very highly-rated and someone who could well make a big impact for Birmingham this term.

The Verdict: Jeremie Boga moved to Chelsea back in 2008 but has had to wait nine years for his senior debut, and that itself didn’t quite go as he would have hoped.

Gary Cahill’s early red card in their defeat to Burnley saw the 20-year-old sacrificed for Andreas Christiansen after just 18 minutes, although his mere presence in the Blues first team demonstrates how talented and highly-rated he is at Stamford Bridge.

Yet like several young players on the books at the West London outfit, Boga is unlikely to receive regular first team football, and Harry Redknapp’s Birmingham have been the beneficiaries of that, which will perhaps give the 70-year-old room for encouragement after a frustrating window thus far.

The former Tottenham boss has reaffirmed that the squad isn’t quite where he wants it to be, but Boga’s arrival is certainly a step in the right direction in what could be a busy final few days of the market at St Andrew’s.

Birmingham fans… what do you make of the news? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!