Birmingham City set to sign 23-cap international amid bizarre relegation clause | OneFootball

The full-back is set to move permanently to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park

Birmingham City are set to complete the signing of right-back Alfons Sampsted on a permanent basis.

This is according to reports from TwenteInsite in the Netherlands, with the news outlet attached to the Icelandic defender's parent club, FC Twente.

It has been suggested that Sampsted will move to St Andrew's @ Knigthead Park for the long-term at the end of the season as an option-to-buy clause has been triggered within his initial loan move, as Blues are, mathematically, the only side who cannot be relegated to League Two at the end of the campaign.

Not that such a scenario was on the minds of all connected to Blues, with Chris Davies' side the standout side in League One in many ways, as Saturday's victory against second-place Wycombe Wanderers saw them open up a 12-point gap on their nearest rivals with 14 games of their season left to play.

Alfons Sampsted set to complete permanent Birmingham City switch

The 26-year-old made his first venture into English football after completing an initial temporary switch on August 11th, just two days after the club's first third tier season in 30 years began.

After making his debut through a one-minute cameo in the reverse fixture against the Chairboys - a 3-2 victory at Adams Park - Sampsted would appear in six consecutive outings between August 31st and October 5th, which resulted in the first of Birmingham's two league defeats this season against Charlton Athletic.

The man who played 26 times for the Eredivisie outfit last term, is still yet to start in the league for Blues, with a somewhat frustrating season summed up by an ankle issue which saw him sidelined from November until the turn of the year, marking his return to action in the recent success over Leyton Orient.

However, in an interview with ESPN NL last month, Sampsted clarified that his long-term future was likely to lie in B9, despite the strong competition on the right side of defence provided by Ethan Laird and Taylor-Gardner Hickman.

“I think there’s probably a chance of me becoming a Birmingham player in the summer. From there we’ll see where it goes. As things stand now, I’ll become a Birmingham player,” he said.

And, as per TwenteInsite's fresh revelations on Monday morning, the 23-time international is set to see such plans come to fruition amid the aforementioned clause, which now looks bizarre on paper.

Despite the defender's three starts coming in either the FA Cup or EFL Trophy against Fulham Under-21's, Swindon Town and Lincoln City, the striking of such an agreement further echoes the forward-planning Davies and his recruitment team are implementing with a first-time promotion back to the second tier looking a certainty at this point.

Sampsted will join Hannover 96 defender Phil Neumann, who signed a pre-contract deal with the club last month, and fellow loanee and utility player, Gardner-Hickman as the first trio of signings through the door at the beginning of next term, with the in-form former West Brom man joining for a reported £1.5m after the activation of his own loan-to-buy clause.

In the short-term, the former Bodo/Glimt man's persistence could pay off at Laird's expense, with it being revealed by Birmingham Live that the former Manchester United man is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury late in Saturday's 23rd victory of the season.

Sampsted will finally hope to show the Bluenoses what he is capable of in the short-term in order to justify how he can play a key role in the club's progression, with Knighthead Capital Management's ambitions well-publicised.