Birmingham City signing Renedi Masampu has claimed that playing for a big club like the Blues brings him a lot of joy and revealed that he's targetting a place in the first team.

The Championship club announced today that the 22-year-old left-back had signed for the club after a successful spell on trial, joining on a contract that runs until the end of the season.

Masampu came through the Chelsea academy system but was released in 2019 and has been in non-league since.

He has been linked with a string of EFL clubs in recent months but is now a Blues player and, speaking to club media, he shed some light on why he joined the club.

The defender said: "Playing for a big club like Birmingham City brings me a lot of joy and I'm just looking forward to the challenge ahead."

Masampu will join up with Steve Spooner's U23s squad but it seems he's got his eyes firmly set on breaking into Lee Bowyer's side.

He said: "I want to get into the first team, if possible. That's the aim because that's what you want to do, be playing in front of the stadium, in front of the fans. That's my goal so I'm going to keep working toward that."

The Verdict

Blues fans will surely love these comments from Masampu, who is not only excited to be at the club but appears determined to make the most of his opportunity.

With the likes of Kristian Pedersen, Jérémie Bela, and Juan Familia-Castillo in the squad, Bowyer isn't short of options at left wing-back so the 22-year-old may have his work cut out for him.

The defender only has a six-month contract as things stand, so he's going to have to push hard to convince the coaches that he's someone worth keeping beyond the end of the season.

If he can do that, he might just prove a shrewd bit of business for the Blues further down the line.