This article is part of Football League World's 'Regular Punter' series, where we gather original opinions from select, passionate fans of the clubs concerned on matters surrounding their team and share them with a wider audience...

Despite the transfer window closing for Championship clubs in August, Birmingham City managed to bolster their squad last week by signing Josh McEachran on a free transfer.

Without a club since being released by Brentford following the culmination of the 2018/19 campaign, the midfielder signed a two-year deal with Blues which will keep him at St Andrew's until 2021.

Football League World's Birmingham pundit Alex Young has insisted that McEachran is the kind of player that Birmingham have been missing for years.

"The addition of McEachran to Blues' midfield ranks will offer manager Pep Clotet a new dynamic.

"His incisive passing, couple with the ability to read the game and control tempo will a dimension that Birmingham have been missing for many years.

"The Blues faithful are used to seeing midfield battlers like David Davis, Maikel Kieftenbeld and Gary Gardner.

"McEachran will add guile and control to a midfield already boasting steel."

Young has suggested that McEachran could form a fruitful partnership with Ivan Sunjic who joined the Blues from Dinamo Zagreb earlier this summer.

"With Sunjic becoming an integral part of the starting eleven, it would make sense for McEachran to replace Gardner or Davis in that second deep-lying midfield role.

"Sunjic's tackling and ball-winning prowess would dovetail nicely with the former Chelsea man's passing and ball retention abilities."

The Birmingham fan pundit is confident that McEachran's recent arrival will add some competition to the club's midfield.

"There can be no doubt that additional competition in the side is a good thing; McEachran's experience and different skill-set will bring new ideas to the midfield.

"Certainly, building a partnership with Sunjic could see an improvement to both players' all-round games. Their particular strengths complement each other well."

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