Birmingham City's delay in offering Amari Miller a professional contract allowed Premier League clubs to circle ahead of his move to Leeds United, according to The Athletic.

The 18-year-old's move to Leeds was announced yesterday, with the winger signing a four-year deal at Elland Road.

It is understood that the move will see the Blues received £200,000 up front as part of a total package worth around £1.5 million but it seems they did their own chances of keeping hold of the teenager no favours.

The Athletic has reported that Birmingham made their contract offer to Miller late and the delay allowed Leeds, Everton, and Tottenham to circle.

The report claims that the Whites offer was better than the one made by the St Andrew's outfit, with the winger enticed by the Yorkshire club's vision and a four-year deal.

Born in Birmingham, Miller came through the club's academy system and was handed his debut late last season.

The winger featured five times for the Blues, totaling 187 minutes, and showed glimpses of what an exciting young attacker he is.

The Verdict 

This update is likely to really frustrate the St Andrew's faithful as it seems poor decision-making at the club led to Miller's departure.

The 18-year-old may still have turned down a new deal anyway but the Blues certainly made things very difficult for themselves by delaying handing him a professional contract and have now paid the price.

Lessons simply have to be learned from this for Birmingham or they're going to continue seeing their top young talent leave cheaply.

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