Ivan Sunjic has admitted he was sad to see Alen Halilovic leave Birmingham City in the summer, and he wouldn't go into details on why the attacking midfielder didn't stay.

The former Barcelona man arrived at St. Andrew's to join fellow Croatian Sunjic at the start of the previous campaign.

And, whilst he struggled initially, Halilovic impressed towards the end of the campaign and it had been hoped that he would agree a longer deal with Blues.

However, fresh terms couldn't be agreed, with Lee Bowyer eventually looking elsewhere and the 25-year-old ended up joining Reading, where he has begun the season impressively.

Speaking to Birmingham Live, Sunjic opened up on playing alongside his countryman and his exit.

"I was happy to have someone from Croatia to be here. I have known him since we have been young, the same generation. Was I sorry to see him leave? Yes, of course but I cannot say why he didn’t come back here, he made his choice.

"Of course I think everybody wanted him to be here, I said that to him, me, players as well but he made his choice."

The verdict

It's no surprise to see that Sunjic was sorry to see Halilovic leave, because, as he mentions, they have known each other since they were kids so they were obviously close.

From Blues' perspective, there's no doubt that they wanted to keep the creative midfielder but terms couldn't be agreed, so they had to move on.

It was a shame for Birmingham as he could've given the team something different in the final third, but these things happen in football and it would be interesting to see exactly why a new deal couldn't have been agreed.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.