It's been a tough season for Aston Villa on their return to the Championship, and the pressure is on Steve Bruce to bring success back to the Midlands next season.

The club were widely tipped to make the quickest of returns back to the Premier League this season but it really hasn't happened and in hindsight, things were always going to be tougher than expected for the Midlanders, who have a lot of work to do this summer if they're to build a squad good enough next campaign.

And one man that might be at risk of the axe over the summer months is £1.7million-rated Ritchie De Laet, who has been ruled out for pretty much the entire campaign through injury.

And with Alan Hutton, James Bree and Leandro Bacuna all as options in the defence for Steve Bruce moving forward and potentially any other players he might bring in over the summer, there's far too much competition in at full-back on the right-hand side.

De Laet is a man that has proved during his time with Leicester City that he's a seriously competent player at this level, and we think he'd make a cracking addition to the squad at Birmingham City over the summer.

Of course, the bitter rivalry is there between the two clubs but Birmingham City could do with some experienced and willing options going ahead next season too.

De Laet will be seriously keen to get some first-team football under his belt once again and as an option for the Blues, he'd be well worth taking a risk on.

Birmingham City fans- would you like to see De Laet join the club over the summer months? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!